The movie starts off kind of slowly as it glides around trying to set up this world and its characters. The introduction to De Niro's character, Ben, was handled ok but a lot of it just seemed like pretty useless information about him and his past. By the end of it, we get the picture, he's old and out of touch. It all took a bit of a nose dive for me after he gets the intern job at a tech company and comes in to the office for the first time. It's your typical new age office; all the men are wearing loose fitting shirts and have hipster glasses, all the women look they just stepped off of a vogue photoshoot and they are all provided with brand new MacBooks. The CEO, Jules, rides around the office on a bike. Yeah, they went there. This is where it felt like The Intern was turning into The Internship, that god awful film from a few years ago. I get that they were trying to contrast this ultra sleek modernist aesthetic with what Ben would have been used to, but it's just not an visual style that I'm very fond of having shoved in my face every 5 seconds.
Jules is a feminist's wet dream. She has built her company from the ground up, growing its number of employees ten fold in a year, is married to stay at home Dad, Matt, who looks after their beautiful young daughter Paige. She is just an all round winner and she knows it. I may be against third wave feminism and movies that perpetuate its self fulfilling agenda, but I don't think this film did that all that much. I am all for strong female leads as long as they are given some depth beyond their gender. I think The Intern did a good job with this. Whilst it vaguely explores some feminist ideas, it never feels overdone or forced. Above that, it is not what the film is about. Jules begins the film clearly very stressed out. She has no time for herself and as a result, her family is suffering under the strain. It takes getting to know Ben to finally realise this and begin to change it.
Ben's character is interesting because he is at the exact opposite stage of his life to Jules, but somehow wants to recapture the ambition he had in his youth. This makes the relationship between them feel meaningful as they both have something to learn and something to admire about the other. As the film progresses we see Ben sympathising with Jules and doing everything he can to help her. For this to work the director had to have De Niro play Ben very straight. He's depicted as a very honourable gentleman who is also extremely likeable. Deepening Ben's character in any way and including darker, more sinister motives would have ruined this warm-hearted feeling the film managed to concur up. This is one of the real successes of The Intern, the fact it realised its limits in terms of its characters and chose to focus on very simple themes of human relationships, love and friendship. The reason the film worked pretty well for me was because of these two characters. I ended up almost seeing Jules' life through the sentimental eyes of old Ben, and that made it far more pleasant and revealing. By the end, I felt some kind of kinship with both of these characters. A character who began the film a little bit bland and stale is turned into someone we can all relate to through Ben's unmotivated friendship and guidance.
Obviously another main theme is the reality of getting older in an ever changing world full of MacBooks and liberal values in the workplace. The underlying message of The Intern is 'don't let your age hold you back', a bit of a cliché but still a positive notion. Ben's desire to get back out in the world is a noble one, and something we could all learn from. Again, the overall likability of his character helped tremendously in driving home this message. I suspect many people will see this as the main theme of the film, and perhaps it is, but one must look at the other extreme too, what the older generation can teach the younger generation, and how we are more similar than we are different. The scene with Jules and Ben in the hotel room symbolises this in a touching way.
Both the lead actors, De Niro and Hathaway give pretty good performances. Lets be clear, this was hardly a stretching role for either of them. In fact, in De Niro's case, it's hard to pick out many examples of an actor looking more comfortable in a leading role. But I think considering the context, he did a good job. He gives off a sustained warmth throughout the movie and remains interesting with his wistful quips and nostalgic sighs. This is exactly the kind of role an ageing De Niro should be taking on. In regard to Anne Hathaway, I can't say I've ever been a great fan of hers in the past. Nonetheless she does a good job in this, carrying off the arc of her character with genuine nuance. Perhaps she overacts a little in some of the business related scenes, but nothing that has me cringing or rolling my eyes too much. The other characters in The Intern were mostly background noise though, to be honest. There were a few that had me chuckling, like young intern Jason, played by Adam DeVine. Unfortunately though, most of the surrounding cast of characters are not much more than light relief or narrative props. This is a shame, and it could have been a richer experience if some of the characters, especially those close to the main characters, were fleshed out a little more.
Overall, The Intern is very easy to watch and an enjoyable experience for the most part, but only succeeds within its rather timid limits. If you want a film with a warm heart and a few laughs however, this could well be for you. There is very little to hate about it, and it does no harm to watch movies now and then that make us feel good. Just don't expect Goodfella's level De Niro Ok? Those days are well and truly over. At least its not Dirty Grandpa..
Characters: 60
Narrative: 70
Visuals: 50
Music: N/A
Overall: 60/100
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