Movie Information
Release Date: September 25, 2015
Director: Nancy Meyers
Writer: Nancy Meyers
Cast: Robert De Niro, Anne Hathaway, Rene Russo, Anders Holm, JoJo Kushner, Andrew Rannells, Adam DeVine, Zack Pearlman, Jason Orley, Christina Scherer, Nat Wolff, Linda Lavin, Celia Weston, Steve Vinovich, C.J. Wilson, Mary Kay Place, Erin Mackey, Christina Brucato, Wallis Currie-Wood, Molly Bernard
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Runtime: Comedy
Production Company: Waverly Films, Warner Bros.
Genre: Comedy
Language: English
Country: USA
Budget: $35,000,000 (estimated)
All don’t feel this way, but I’ve run into a few that do. The thought is that after a certain age you’re no longer of any good to the society. It’s assumed that you just go home, watch TV, and pass away. However, this isn’t the case with everyone, especially with all the wisdom one obtains over the years. This cute little movie addresses this very notion, and the film is rife with comedic puns. It does drag at times, but not too much—in the end, it delivers the goods. The film attacks the assumptions people make and puts them in their place.
For some reason, I went in not knowing who the director was behind the camera. Even when the director’s name Nancy Myers (What Women Want, Parent Trap, It’s Complicated) appeared on the screen, her name didn’t ring a bell. I enjoyed the film whole heartedly, and laughed when figured out why. I saw the director’s other works and realized I’ve enjoyed all her films, including this one. When I thought about it, I realized that she adds a nice touch of honest comedy to the plot and puts her characters in silly situations. Sometimes, in life, during the most random times, you can catch a glimpse of something. Then just from its position can be taken out of context for a hilarious episode of laughs. She’s really good at this, and you will agree if you’ve seen the rest of her films. This time around all her comedy isn’t gold—a large joke or two falls flat.
Though anything falling Robert De Niro catches before it breaks. His character Ben is the man I aspire to be when I’m older: healthy, smart, able, and fun. He has a grown family, has traveled the world, and still looks forward to a new day every day. It is the simple things in life that make him happy, but he still has one thing he wishes to do. His character is extremely patient and polite, which speaks volumes about his character. He is also caring and knows his place at all times: he gets involved in situations whenever necessary, but also minds his business whenever he should. There are a number of people that can take a page out his book. Anne Hathaway’s character Jules is a delight as well. She is a strong, hardworking young woman who appears to have it all. The film not only showed her strong suits, but also her weaknesses (which we all have), and the best ways to deal with them. It may be obvious but Jules and Ben’s relationship was the shining star. Whatever problems Jules was dealing with, Ben had already been through them. And thus, he becomes the father figure to her, and an extremely good one at that.
What brings the great story and characters together is the movie’s comedic tones. There are a few recognizable names that help with the movie’s comedy, but sometimes they miss the mark. Rene Russo is one of such people who is in this better half. She had nice screen presence which brought at lot to the film. If there were ten jokes in this film, eight were perfect while the rest did not have the desired effect. In spite of not being laugh-out-loud comedy, the move is extremely good. And, even if you tried to stop smiling you couldn’t. The only other downfall was the runtime. While a couple of jokes didn’t work, they also tied too much into the story. Everything was fine until it branched off, reaching too far for laughs, and hence, failed miserably. If those fifteen minutes were done away with, it would have been a near‑perfect film.
Based on the trailers, this honestly didn’t look like a film meant for me, and seemed like an embarrassment to De Niro’s career. However, I’m happy to realize how wrong I was with that assessment. The Intern is a cute little movie and a ton of fun. It’s for all ages; and further gives the finger to the thought of elders being useless. I learned from this movie, laughed, and cared about the characters. With my initial expectations being so low, I’m proud to say I was more than entertained.