INTERVIEW WITH THE ASSASSIN (Neil Burger, 2002)

Reviewed: September 30th, 2002

Sluggish and strangely mechanical thriller, considering the huge promise of its one-line plot: Out of work cameraman's elderly neighbor claims to have killed JFK. Too bad writer/director Neil Burger couldn't come up with arresting or original steps to comprise the cameraman's investigation, instead resorting to standard policier operating procedure. Step by methodical step, the cameraman interviews, researches, etc., and it all feels like time-stalling. I kept waiting in vain for Burger to take his conceit to the next level, but alas, a stratosphere blast is well beyond Interview with the Assassin's reach. On the bright side, Raymond J. Barry's mesmerizing performance as the self-proclaimed murderer manages to generate a lot of unease -- enough to keep the movie always watchable -- though only for a near-the-end, ten minute stretch does Interview move you to the edge of your seat. Burger doesn't introduce the completely expected is-he-lying-or-isn't-he angle in earnest until the third act, and by that time it's too late: I found it excruciatingly hard to believe the cameraman would have waited that long to truly consider, 'hey, this guy might just be really frickin' crazy.' (Plus the bookended conspiracy angle plays obligatory and superfluous. Nothing is more haunting than that which you can never even come close to knowing; blatantly hinting at a larger presence takes the edge off the mystery.) Shot digitally on location (and judged via my digital scale, the images look damn good), pic has verisimilitude in its favor but this is an all around missed opportunity.

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