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| Robert DeNiro is "The Intern" |
You're fired. The likable but forced new Nancy Meyers dramedy "The Intern" has two charming leads that will likely win over many, but don't fooled, it's a flimsy attempt to brown nose audiences into thinking a mediocre film is a great one. Jules Ostin (Anne Hathaway), the founder and CEO of a fashion based e-commerce company, agrees to a community outreach program where a senior, Ben Whittaker (Robert De Niro), will intern at the firm. Directed, written and co-produced by Meyers of "Something's Gotta Give" fame, the bland and unmemorable "The Intern" is so easy, contrived and predictable you'll know what's going to happen from the moment DeNiro's character steps into the successful internet start-up led by the driven but warm Hathaway. For one, few companies, especially the casual, youth-oriented one portrayed in the movie, would dare offer a "senior intern" program for senior citizens. Second, there's not many senior citizens that would likely want to participate anyway, reentering the workforce and being treated badly for nothing is not exactly a great way to spend their retirement. Meyers is a talented filmmaker, but the uneven storytelling hampers the film, not to mention much of it is not that funny. It veers into an unfortunate and unnecessary slapstick sequence mid film involving an email sent to the wrong account, and then turns extremely serious in the last act, but only then skimming the surface of a few pertinent issues in the workplace such as sexism and work-life balance along with personal ones such as infidelity and parental role reversal (I especially didn't care for the unrealistic viewpoint of marriage in particular - the "just stick it out and things will get better" viewpoint). DeNiro, in likable guy form here giving pointers to the younger fellas about how to dress and treat a lady, and Hathaway's career-driven family woman, are certainly appealing though the film loses some passion when they get all chummy late in the film talking about life and work. The real charmer here is the lovely but misused Rene Russo in a small part as DeNiro love interest, a masseuse with the capability of stirring some happy endings. "The Intern," with it's two charming, Oscar-winning leads, is another of those forgettable crowd-pleasers that nearly masks the fact that considering the talent involved, it's a disappointment.
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