Click on image to see it full-size.
THE INTERN
Director: Nancy Meyers
Cast: Robert De Niro, Anne Hathaway, Renee Russo, Anders Holm, JoJo Kushener, Andrew Rannalls, Adam DeVine, Zack Pearlman, Jason Orley, Christina Scherer, Nat Wolff, Linda Lavin, Celia Weston, Steve Vinovich, Erin Makey, Christina Brucato, Mary Kay Place, C. J. Wilson
Rating: C+
Can a young woman juggle a demanding career and family life and still have it all? A question many still debate despite the strides women have made in the work force over the past twenty years. The Intern, a film directed and written by Nancy Meyers, is a light-hearted humorous production that hopes to prove that with just a little bit of help a girl can get anything she wants. This latest effort by Meyers promotes a concept that the wisdom of age meeting the eagerness of youth can form the perfect partnership.
Ben (Robert De Niro) is a 70-year-old retiree who spends his time at Starbucks and doing Tia Chi to fill his days. One day he sees an ad for an intern position with an up and coming e-commerce start-up, and this ad specifically asks for a senior citizen to apply for the job. Eager to get back to the working world and break his cycle of boredom, Ben applies for the post. He attends an interview, gets the gig, and lands the spot of being at the beck and call of the company’s dynamic owner, Jules (Anne Hathaway).
At first Jules, who can’t seem to recall ever signing off on an intern program, is not too happy about a senior citizen following her around. But, when she sees Ben always showing up for work in tip-top style and never leaving until she does, Jules finally takes notice of her elderly assistant. Jules, who rarely sleeps and is completely overwhelmed by the demands of her job and needs of her family, is told by Cameron (Andrew Rannells), one of her executives, that her investors want her to hire a CEO to run her fashion business. Hiring a CEO would mean that Jules would be giving up control of the business she spent 18 months building. The thought of bringing in someone from the outside to run the company that she started leaves Jules feeling frustrated and defeated.
As the bond between Ben and the young entrepreneur grows, Jules begins to lean on her wise elderly intern to be the voice of reason when she is in the midst of difficult decisions. She looks to Ben for guidance and finds herself needing him for almost everything. The senior intern, who it turns out has over 40 years of solid business experience along with a life rich with history, imparts his wisdom on the youthful business owner to help her reconcile her struggles between work and home.
The Intern takes a lighter look at the challenges of having a demanding career. Anne Hathaway is charming as a thirty-something businesswoman that does not even have time to learn the names of her employees. She is whimsical, earnest, and pulls off a very human side of a woman trying to strike a balance between her professional and personal needs. Robert De Niro proves again that he does have a flare for comedy, but this strong actor is somewhat underutilized in the film. His character is supposed to be a former successful high powered executive but he comes across more like someone with a flimsy personality. In the first part of the story, De Niro’s character sits around waiting patiently waiting for someone to assign him a task. It does not fit that a former high powered executive would just sit on the sidelines waiting for something to happen.
Ridiculous scenes such as Ben partnering with three employees to pull off a home break-in, an employee walking in on what he thinks is a sexual encounter, and a love interest getting pissed off with Ben and giving him the finger all do provide for some laughs but have absolutely nothing to do with the storyline and only succeed in throwing off the pacing of the film. Between unnecessary dialogue and random attempts at jokes, the story comes to a grinding halt. Then there is plenty of Ben coming in to save the day, but after a while the well-meaning scenes meant to pull at heartstrings only cause audiences to roll their eyes as the story goes from funny to boring.
The effort to make The Intern into a comedy fails because the funny parts (that do provide for a few laughs) take away from the developing storyline of the relationship between Ben and Jules and how young and old can benefit from each other. Initially the script seemed very promising but as the movie progresses the story goes down a tedious path and gets rather annoying. The saving grace in the production is reasonably good performances by Hathaway, De Niro, and the supporting cast. As a film with the best of intentions, The Intern never manages to fully pull itself off as a feel-good comedy, and concludes with an abrupt and flat ending; audiences are likely going to leave the theater feeling very dissatisfied.
