The
Intern
Robert
De Niro stars as
Ben – a 70-year old widower who has
become bored with retirement. Seeking a new challenge, he decides to
apply for a unique, senior internship at a hot start up, online
clothing store, which is located in his Brooklyn neighborhood.
Everyone becomes so enamored with Ben he receives a plum assignment. He
will be working for the company’s somewhat high strung
founder,
Jules Ostin (Anne Hathaway).
As her life is falling apart, and she faces a decision that could
impact her dream in more ways than you can imagine, Ben might be the
rock Jules needs.
The
Intern is a cute, charming,
touchy feely movie
trying too hard to be cute, charming and touchy feely.
After a super strong opening that allows the audience to fall in love
with Ben and the irresistible way he is portrayed by De Niro, The
Intern starts to become weighed
down by a plot lacking direction
and a melodramatic storyline inserted for no good reason.
It’s almost as if writer/director Nancy Meyers suddenly
realized
she has Hathaway on board, and she is one of those awesome actresses
who knows how to cry, so let’s make sure her character has a
reason to cry.
If you aren’t hoping for much, The
Intern is a good movie
for you. Like a comfortable shoe, it delivers everything you expect
without too many surprises and moments of daring.
Ben and Jules bond over late night pizza and a mutual admiration as
each teaches the other something about business and life.
Ben starts showing the boys around the office how to be men.
Jules has a super adorable little girl who steals every scene.
Even with a few extraneous sequences of capers and parties at the bar, The
Intern is fun and goofy.
However, fun and goofy comes to a sudden and maddening end when Meyers
injects the heaviest dose of melodrama you will find this side of The
Young and The Restless. Jules
faces enough drama for everyone in
the audience to recognize and sympathize with, but Meyers feels the
need to up the volume to 11 with an absurdly massive piling on for
those who need to be hit over the head with a sledgehammer.
With some editing, The Intern
could have been fantastic.
As is, it’s passable.
The
Intern is rated PG-13 for some suggestive
content and brief strong language.
|