Be in no doubt, no matter what you may have assumed from the trailer, The Intern is the typical, what they call ‘chick flick’. It may not be all love and roses but it certainly is about the relationships we have with others.
Ben Whittaker (Robert De Niro) is a retired 70-year-old, widower. Filling his days with Tai Chi, learning new things and anything just to keep himself busy, he still misses the hustle and bustle of everyday working life. Whilst out shopping one morning and trying to avoid the advances of a rather amorous friend, he stumbles across an advert posted for Senior Intern’s at an online fashion store.
Instead of the usual way of submitting a CV, in this day of modern technology they ask to send a video CV, not knowing the first thing about computer technology he enlists the help of his 8 year grandchild, wins over the recruitment team and lands himself a position with four other interns. Ben subsequently finds himself assigned to Jules Ostin (Anne Hathaway), the founder of the quickly accelerating start-up.
Jules isn’t the easiest of people to work and has difficulty with her relationships with people of the older generation. This stems from the poor relationship she has with her own unfeeling mother. She reluctantly agrees to have Ben as her intern. Being the owner of the business she likes to keep everything to herself and leaves Ben workless. Ben takes it all in his stride as he makes work for himself and after a massage at his desk but the in-house masseuse (which see’s him getting a little excited), this may sound a little crass but the humour is very much like this throughout, it’s delivered in such a soft and gentle way it gives that feeling of warmth. It’s refreshing not to have the comedy so in your face but gently unleashed on your senses.
He instantly becomes a hit with the younger generation in the office. Whilst they give him the lowdown on how to use the computer he in turn becomes a father figure with everyone coming to him for advice. Ben is also very observant and watches Jules in an attempt to get to know his boss, slowly building up her trust Jules lets him in and they build up a strong bond, she even states at one point he is her best friend. We would say it’s more like a father/daughter relationship that develops between the pair. The relationship does slowly build but the film isn’t slow, it hits on the truthfulness of real life.
Coming with age, comes wisdom and Ben imparts his words of wisdom on Jules when faced with two very difficult situations in her life, proving that just because someone is a lot older they should never be overlooked, especially when it comes to work. They have a wealth of experience we could all learn from.
The Intern is extremely heartfelt, touching and full of integrity which will have you grabbing at the tissues one moment but the humour and especially De Niro’s performance of delivery in his comedic lines and even more so his facial expressions will have you feeling all warm deep down.
The Intern is out in UK Cinemas 2nd October.
