Claudia Rosett saw "The Interview"--and loved it!

Claudia Rosett has written serious pieces for the Wall Street Journal for years.  Today she reviewed the now-well-known Sony comedy about North Korea, "The Interview." 

She loved it.

I'll tell you why but if you plan to see the movie there are spoilers below, so...










Ok, the sub-plot that seems to have won Rosett over was where Franco's character arrives in North Korea and is taken on the usual carefully guided tour, on which he sees a grocery store seemingly overflowing with all manner of luscious-looking food.  As intended, he comes away thinking this is reality in the country.

But later, at night, he manages to find the store again--only to find that the food is all fake, made of plaster and wax.  This triggers an epiphany, with Franco yelling "You're a liar!" at the night sky.

Then later, as the pair are interviewing North Korea's dictator on live TV, they depart from the careful script and Franco asks "Why don't you feed your people?"

That's about as close to the truth about totalitarianism as Hollywood has gotten since WW2.

Yes, we know the line should have been "Why don't you let your people feed themselves" but at least it's a start.  Can't expect Hollywood to suddenly do a U-turn on all fronts at once, right?

Also, consider the main intended audience: boys age ten to 18.  Kids into food and with razor-sharp hypocrisy detectors.

That one scene will do more to spread the truth than anything else I can imagine.

Now imagine if Hollywood turned that kind of weapon on other ghastly regimes...like Cuba or Saudi Arabia or Iran or...well, it's a long list, but there's still time.

Anyway, best news of the month, by far.