Interview (2007), R

Steve Buscemi as Pierre Peders, Sienna Miller as Katya. (Photo: Sony Pictures Classics)

Starring: Lee Jeong-jae, Shim Eun-Ha, Sienna Miller

With Interview, his fourth directorial outing, American actor-cum-director Steve Buscemi reworks a 2003 feature by the ill-fated Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh. Van Gogh originally intended to shoot an English-language version of the picture himself, but Buscemi signed on after the director's late 2004 assassination. The story concerns Pierre Peders (Buscemi), a steel-tough political correspondent infuriated by his editor's decision to hogtie him to a tabloid-level story about the seemingly vapid actress and blonde paparazzi goddess Katya (Sienna Miller). Pierre's chagrin doubles given the news of a searing White House scandal that is just breaking; instead of covering the piece, Peders must visit a posh Manhattan restaurant and interview Katya -- someone he instantly detests. The one-on-one is more of a disaster than either could have predicted, but by some strange twist of fate, Pierre is injured and courted back to Katya's apartment. Once there, liquor is downed, coke is consumed, minor violence erupts, and the two begin to dance a pas de deux -- attempting, not so subtly, to outmaneuver one another psychologically, as dark secrets and long-hidden vulnerabilities emerge. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide