At this point, you’ve probably heard about The Interview. The details of the troubling controversy surrounding the film in the weeks and months prior to its release has been the subject of intense media scrutiny, but now that the film is finally available to the masses, the question remains if this comedy was truly worth all the discussion it inspired.

The second directorial effort from Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (following last year’s apocalyptic This is the End), the film follows over-the-top TV host Dave Skylark (James Franco) and his producer Aaron Rapaport (Seth Rogen) as they secure a live chat with North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un (Randall Park). Due to a looming nuclear threat from the foreign nation, the two journalists are recruited by the CIA to assassinate the young leader, embarking on a dangerous mission that neither of them is prepared for.

At its most basic, the premise behind The Interview is a bold move, especially coming from Rogen. The actor has developed a reputation for playing lovable stoners and parodying the Hollywood institution, and his latest film shows dramatic growth in his skills as a risk-taking comedic voice, one that he and Goldberg will likely continue to hone in the years to come. There’s a clear political agenda behind The Interview, and it’s obvious why the North Korean government would prefer that the film have remained locked away in the studio’s vault forevermore.

Naturally, the film’s more high-minded objective is largely diluted by a series of misadventures, crude humor and all sorts of ridiculousness that should ring true for previous Rogen/Franco collaborations, such as Pineapple Express. A surprising (unless you’ve been following the latest round of media coverage) cameo starts off the film’s bizarre go-for-broke tone, and though the second half of the film struggles to maintain the laughs-per-minute ratio it establishes right off the bat, The Interview largely succeeds, thanks in large part to the cast’s implicit trust in the material.

While Rogen once again proves himself a credible movie star, his performance is ultimately one of the less impressive ones in the film. For much of The Interview, he is forced to play straight man to the wackier half of the film’s leads (more on that in a second), and his role here pales in comparison to his work in films like Knocked Up and even this year’s Neighbors. It also doesn’t help that his character’s arc is set up early on and then is promptly dropped when the plot turns deadly.

However, Franco truly drives the film with his larger-than-life take on Dave Skylark. His manic, off-kilter turn here reminds viewers that the Oscar-nominated actor has a real knack for embracing the inherent absurdity in films like The Interview. Somehow, he manages to capture Dave’s egotism, naivete and ignorance in one fell swoop without leaning full-on into caricature. Moreover, the character’s relationship with Kim Jong-un (played with fervor by the scene-stealing Park) makes for some of the film’s most memorable moments and the most effective use of a Katy Perry song that has ever been put to film,

The Interview may prove to be an uneven comedy at times, but it is anchored by incisive political and social commentary as well as a solid performances all around that manage to massage out the wrinkles in its storytelling. It’s not exactly a film worth going to war over, though its earnest, unintentional effort in advocating for freedom of speech through gross-out gags and surreal circumstances is admirable. In short, The Interview may not be one of the best comedies in recent years, but due to its history-making significance in recent weeks, it has become – in many ways – an important cinematic milestone.

Rating: 3 out of 5

The Interview stars Seth Rogen, James Franco, Randall Park, Lizzy Caplan and Diana Bang. It is directed by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg and is now in limited theatrical release as well as numerous on-demand formats.