Steve Buscemi’s remake of Theo van Gogh’s Interview is a tribute to the Dutch filmmaker who was murdered by a religious extremist in 2004 (actor-director Stanley Tucci’s take on van Gogh’s Blind Date is up next).

The set-up couldn’t be more straightforward. Self-regarding reporter Pierre (Buscemi) - accustomed to covering weighty matters in Washington for (the fictional) Newsworld magazine - is forced to interview America’s hottest soap star (Miller).

Scheduled to meet for dinner at a swanky restaurant, neither will win awards for professionalism. She turns up late. He has done no research. They swap insults and she storms out.

But an incident in a taxi shortly afterwards leaves Pierre with a bump to the head. Feeling responsible, Katya takes him back to her vast loft apartment and, over a few gallons of booze, they make a fresh start.

Flighty, prone to drama-queenery, and boasting a yappy-dog ringtone that could drive pacifists to murder, Katya is every inch the celeb. Yet she is possessed of a talent and depth which smart-alec Pierre foolishly underestimates.

Neither is he the pillar of integrity we first meet consoling his catatonic brother (played by Buscemi’s real sibling Michael) in hospital. Pierre emerges as underhand and two-faced as any of the political sneaks he writes about on Capitol Hill.

Yet their evening-long encounter frustrates and entertains in equal measure.

Swinging erratically from the serious to the frivolous, their discourse covers everything from love, drug addiction and cancer to suicide-bombing prostitutes and the metaphorical significance of fishnet stockings.

As an exercise in preconception-shattering, it works reasonably well. But as the characters veer between petulance and intimacy and back again - often within the same verbal exchange – the situation never really rings true. It’s all too… theatrical.

A much-maligned actress herself, Miller proves to be a decent casting choice in the role previously played by Katja Schuurman, a Dutch TV star whose performance reversed many negative opinions about her. And naturally, Buscemi the actor is as fun to watch as ever.

But having directed one near-perfect two-hander (the episode of The Sopranos where Chris and Paulie get lost in the woods), it’s a surprise to see Buscemi the filmmaker occasionally losing his grip here.

Elliott Noble