Uncle Bob: THE INTERN

by Le Anne Lindsay, Editor

I really hope this movie THE INTERN encourages more mixing of the generations in the workplace.  Last year a temp agency sent me on a job interview at a tech/web company; I think when sent by an agency the company hiring doesn’t really have all the details of who you are – so when the young interviewer came to greet me in the reception area, I saw a noticeable look of dismissal on his face, the moment he laid eyes on me.  You could see he saw over 40, and was like, not happening. Being black and female didn’t help either. Of course he had to go through the pretense of an interview, and as I walked through the open bull pen, I saw just how many little, techie, under 30 Adam DeVine looking guys were working there and I immediately got the impression my presence would have been an unwanted anomaly.

In this Nancy Meyers (writer/director) film, The Intern, there’s no mistaken age identity. Ben Whittaker (Robert De Niro) applies for an internship designed for individuals in retirement. Still, he is dismissed by Jules Ostin (Anne Hathaway) the founder and CEO of About the Fit, an e-commerce fashion startup –  when it’s recommended she take on one of the Senior Interns to set an example to her staff.  Yet it’s her staff who comes to appreciate Ben long before Jules realizes Ben’s doing her a favor by being her intern, rather than the other way around.  And that’s the beauty of the movie, you

think it’s about a man in his 70’s trying to come into the 21st century, being lost in the sauce, bungling a million things and trying to get “hip”.  Thank God, Nancy Meyer’s didn’t go in this direction at all.  Ben is who he is, and although he’s glad to be “working” again, he’s got nothing to prove. He doesn’t push his way in and demand to be taken seriously and be given respect for his years of experience; nor does he require any hand holding or schooling. Ben just waits, and when he sees an opportunity to make a small contribution at About the Fit or in Jules life, he gently steps in and makes things better, until eventually he becomes indispensable.

Likewise, Hathaway’s Jules is played against type too. True, she doesn’t feel she has time to work with an intern, but she’s never bitchy or cold.  She’s far from the dragon lady, Anna Wintour inspired boss she had to deal with in The Devil Wears Prada. Instead Jules is still somewhat in awe of the fact that her business has grown so fast and demands so much of her time, which is also being divided between her stay at home husband (Anders Holm ) and her most adorable little girl (JoJo Kushner). Jules isn’t trying to make it all look easy or that she has all the answers, but she’s passionate and dedicated to About the Fit and rightly resents the fact that her investors feel she needs help, strongly recommending she hire a CEO to ostensibly be her boss.

Nancy Meyers (Somethings Gotta Give, It’s Complicated, The Holiday) is not one for the 3 act structure. Instead the scenes stretch out as a day-in-the-life type storytelling, which allows you to really get invested in the characters. It’s not an easy approach to pull off, as you could easily feel the movie is too long or be turned off by the non-traditional beats; but it’s such good writing, your just all in!

T &T’s LAMB Score:3.5 outta 5