Interview

Director: Steve Buscemi

Starring: Sienna Miller, Steve Buscemi, Michael Buscemi

There’s very little worse than a celebrity interview. The public think it is glamorous; the celebrity enjoys the limelight, but the journalist? For the journalist, the experience is degrading.

Having made his name as a war reporter, it is no surprise that Pierre (Steve Buscemi) sees the most horrifying sights imaginable, and so it is to his disgust that his is assigned to interview an actress, Katya (Miller). In true journalist tradition, Pierre knows nothing about the actress and doesn’t do anything to change this. When Katya arrives an hour late for her interview, he does little to conceal his disdain, and she expectedly leaves within minutes.

Now in the real world, that would have been that, and the story would end there. However, this is a movie, and so the tale goes on. Eventually the two end up in her apartment and what follows is an evening of drinking, game playing, revelations – not all of which are true leaving the audience to choose whether the two are bonding or trying to destroy each other.

Despite the story’s obvious drift, the sham setting and some questionable details, ‘Interview’ keeps you hooked because its two stars do. Mr. Buscemi always steals his scenes with stealth, nibbling where other actors chew and gulp. His evident lack of vanity is its own kind of vanity, one that is well matched by Miller’s utter confidence. For once, she holds the screen, not just decorates it.

Orville D’Silva