The Interview (1998)

A year before Hugo Weaving achieved worldwide fame as Agent Smith, the sadistic computer program posing as a government interrogator, he was the one on the hot seat in the small Australian film The Interview. It's too bad it only got seen down under, because The Interview demonstrates an astonishing subtlety and range by the Aussie actor, which could never be showcased in epics like The Matrix or Lord of the Rings. Violently dragged from his apartment at dawn, Weaving's Eddie Fleming initially seems to be the framed patsy of a fascist police apparatus, not unlike something Agent Smith might be involved in. But as Craig Monahan's film moves forward, never quite fully revealing itself, it becomes less certain that Fleming really deserves audience loyalty, and downright impossible that he's telling the complete truth. But is he lying to cover up a heinous crime, or simply to wrest some food from his remorseless captors? Monahan's film is impressive in its ability to wring real tension from a small narrative that takes place almost entirely in a police station. Within that limited framework, the writer-director has tons to say about both the cops' Gestapo tactics, and the rigid procedural checks and balances that emasculate them in the name of protecting civil rights. Monahan refuses to take a definitive stance, condemning neither and both at the same time. The unsolvable imperfections of the system are the focus, and the audience finds itself in the same state as the flummoxed cops -- not knowing whether they are badgering an innocent man or letting a killer slip through their fingers. Viewers may find themselves frustrated by the ambiguity, but then, that's kind of the point. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide