海角大神

There are two reasons why movie goers jammed a few hundred independent theaters around the country or went online on Christmas Day to see 鈥淭he Interview.鈥�

One, because they wanted to make a personal or political statement about freedom of expression. And two, because they like that sort of thing 鈥� a goofball comedy that pushes the limits of believability and taste.

"We are taking a stand for freedom," declared theater manager Lee Peterson at the Cinema Village East in Manhattan, where most of the day鈥檚 screenings had sold out by early afternoon. "We want to show the world that Americans will not be told what we can or cannot watch.鈥�

The reference, of course, was to anonymous threats made against theaters scheduled to show the Sony Pictures satire about the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, which a North Korean diplomat at the United Nations called an "unpardonable mockery of our sovereignty and dignity of our supreme leader."

The FBI has connected the threats and the massive computer hack at Sony to the North Korean regime. Other experts aren鈥檛 so sure, suggesting it may have been a disgruntled Sony employee.

At Atlanta's Plaza Theater, in any case, a sellout crowd joined in a boisterous sing-along of "God Bless America" before the opening credits. As the closing credits rolled at a theater in Indianapolis, the crowd chanted 鈥�USA! USA!鈥�

But as art or just comedic distraction, how does 鈥淭he Interview鈥� stand up against other movies opening this holiday season, including 鈥淚nto the Woods,鈥� 鈥淯nbroken,鈥� and 鈥淏ig Eyes?鈥� How does it fare within its genre?

Audience members may have enjoyed the spectacle surrounding the film as well as its content. But the Seth Rogen-James Franco satire was treated less kindly by many movie critics.

鈥淚鈥檝e seen worse movies鈥�. But I don鈥檛 think I鈥檝e ever seen a聽movie this mediocre that had more real-world repercussions,鈥� writes the Monitor鈥檚 Peter Rainer.

All reviewers tallied at the 鈥淩otten Tomatoes鈥� online film site add up to a very mediocre 49 percent positive rating. The top reviewers figure is down at 36 percent positive.

Writes Todd McCarthy at The Hollywood Reporter: 鈥淎s political satire goes,聽The Interview聽has the comic batting average of a mediocre-to-average聽Saturday Night Live聽sketch, with a few potent laughs erupting from an overall mash of sex, drugs and TV broadcasting jokes that feel rooted in a sense of humor primarily characterized by a frat-boy/altered state/prolonged adolescence mind-set.鈥�

Ty Burr at The Boston Globe calls it 鈥渁 dopey bro-com that piddles along delivering mild laughs until it turns overly, unamusingly bloody in the climactic scenes.鈥�

鈥淚n its parade of ribald gags and infantile preoccupation with body parts, not to mention a climactic decapitation, water-balloon style,聽The Interview聽displays all the mindless excesses that repressive regimes condemn in Hollywood movies,鈥� writes Richard Corliss at Time magazine. 鈥淲hich may be Rogen and [co-director Evan] Goldberg鈥檚 point 鈥� 鈥楽ee, here鈥檚 what they hate about us. And聽you鈥檙e聽gonna love it.鈥� Maybe you will love聽The Interview.... But if you鈥檙e hoping for any cogent political satire here, then the joke鈥檚 on you.鈥�

Mike Hale鈥檚 take on 鈥淭he Interview鈥� at the New York Times is sweeping.

鈥淭he real threat in 鈥楾he Interview鈥� isn鈥檛 a wackadoodle dictator, it鈥檚 the night terrors of loneliness and inadequacy that seem to bedevil a wide slice of Hollywood鈥檚 30- and 40-something men and that are sublimated onscreen into weepy bromance, gross-out humor, gratuitous female nudity and intimations of homosexuality,鈥� he writes. 鈥淎fter seeing 鈥楾he Interview鈥� and the ruckus its mere existence has caused, the only sensible reaction is amazement at the huge disconnect between the innocuousness of the film and the viciousness of the response.鈥�