Plot: 70-year-old widower Ben Whittaker has discovered that retirement isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Seizing an opportunity to get back in the game, he becomes a senior intern at an online fashion site, founded and run by Jules Ostin.
The Intern was touching, sweet and a kind movie. It is a feel good film, the characters are set up to succeed, and really, don’t expect any plot twists. What made this film stand out for me is the warmth of Robert De Niro’s Ben – a retired 70 year old who applies in a senior intern program at Jules’ (Anne Hathaway) wildly successful but very new company. Anne Hathaway is really also quite wonderful in her role as Jules, and it manages to bring up so many things that successful women have to face – the guilt of working long hours when you have a young child, the judgement you face from other mothers with less ambition, the questions you need to endure as a CEO which a male CEO would never have to face, the emasculation your husband is doomed to feel because his fragile ego can’t deal with your success, and the scary feeling that you are employing hundreds of people who depend on you making good choices.
But The Intern doesn’t stop there. It is about making older people feel relevant and important, how important it is for retired people to feel that they still have a cause – that is something that sits very close to my heart – and also a reminder that older people have knowledge and skills that we would do well to pay attention to.
The cast, lead by Hathaway and De Niro, really contribute to the heart that makes this film work. I would love to have the style and class Rene Russo has when I’m all grown up, Adam DeVine is there for some funny laughs – this guy has the best facial expressions – and Andrew Rannellis, Christina Scherer, Nat Wollf, Jason Orley and Zack Perlman as more colleagues bring a variety of dramas and meltdowns and adventure to the film. JoJo Kushner is such an adorable little girl – like if I can be guaranteed I’d have such a cute child I would maybe even consider having one. Anders Holm has the unfortunate task of playing the emasculated husband, and he was for the most part really sweet and I was impressed by how well Matt was dealing with having a successful wife until he was a douchebag and I was revolted – but he was cute at least.
The Intern has some problem with pacing at some times, not all the scenes are shot very well and there is a ridiculously positive tone to all the events – so not really the perfect movie, but I thoroughly enjoyed it and found it sweet, strong messaged and fun to watch.
Have you seen this? What did you think?
Rating: 6.5/10
Life of this city girl 
Glad you had a decent time 🙂
I’d agree with pretty much all of this. Did not see the douchebag thing coming. I have a big crush on Anne Hathaway so I’m biased a bit but she was great. But yeah the star was de Niro for me. Such warmth. Nice to see that acting side from him.
I just wish she dumped her insecure husband. Ugh.
DeNiro was wonderful. You are quite right – the warmth of his character is not a role he does all the time. The film had such a good, positive message. Probably one of my favorites the last while
Yeah that did go against the spirit and tone of the film. Was a pity.
”and there is a ridiculously positive tone to all the events” – it’s not an easy deal to maintain the right balance with this kind of mood…
It can be really difficult to maintain, though this film had a really good balance to it.
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