"Interview" is a movie which pretends to make big points about the society we live in, where celebrity can often be more about what you look like and who you're sleeping with then any talent or intellect you might possess.  In today's world the public's frenzy with Hollywood and the train wrecks of people like Lindsay Lohan or Paris Hilton take precedence over politics, current events, war, and other crucial topics that help determine the direction of the world.  Interview doesn't attempt to decipher these points, or to lay blame.  It merely points out that world's existence, and uses it for the background of the story.

Adapted from the Dutch film by the same name (which was directed by Theo van Gogh, who was murdered for another one of his pictures), "Interview" stars Steve Buscemi (who also co-wrote the screenplay, and directed) and Sienna Miller.  Buscemi plays Pierre Peders, a journalist who generally covers Washington and politics.  For reasons left initially unexplained, he is assigned the task of meeting and interviewing Katya, played by Sienna Miller as a self-centered pretty face of the week actress crossed with a Hollywood socialite.  Arriving over an hour late for the interview, the unapologetic Katya is insulted to find Peders has not prepared for the interview in any way.  It is clear he regards the job as pointless and his subject as vapid.  The interview is canceled, Peders is slightly injured in a car accident caused by his cab driver's focus on Katya...and the next thing you know, she brings Peders up to her loft.  There ensues the interview, along with a battle of wits, verbal barbs, insults, secrets, lies, honesty, and some minor surprises along the way.

The sharp jousting between the two characters keeps things interesting, even if some of the road they are to travel is telegraphed a bit too openly.  Both actors play their parts with precision, and the direction by Mr. Buscemi seems properly basic and minimal, including a few cuts with a hand-held digital camera to add to the intimate setting.  As the movie concludes, the characters agree they share one belief: that in every relationship, there is no equality; someone is the winner, and someone is the loser.  So who wins or loses here?  That remains to be discovered, a question the film hopes to answer.

As I mentioned, the only real negative of "Interview" is the obvious (to me, at least) payoff.  But I can't fault the screenplay too much.  Even if I knew where we were probably going, I still enjoyed the trip.  As they say, it is better to be traveling than to arrive!