The Intern (2015) Directed by Nancy Meyers. With Robert De Niro, Anne Hathaway and Rene Russo.
Nancy Meyers’ latest relationship comedy-drama, The Intern, pairs the unlikely duo of Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway to surprisingly feelgood effect. With an array of New York establishing shots and a breezy feel that invokes any number of workaday rom-coms, you’d be forgiven for assuming a play of the same old beats. Pleasingly, it’s set slightly apart from by field, opertaing as a mainstream piece about the forming of unconventional friendships, while strongly pronouncing that conventionality itself is what often makes life such a drag.
De Niro plays Ben, a retired 70-year-old widower, eager to keep life busy, and thus, happens across the opportunity to work as a senior intern at a spirited young fashion company set up by an entrepreneurial Anne Hathaway.
Through De Niro’s Ben, Meyers’ script yearns for the men of yesteryear as Hathaway’s Jules opines – “How, in one generation, have men gone from guys like jack Nicholson and Harrison Ford to…” – this is asked as she’s surrounded by three t-shirt-wearing, bearded twenty-something tech geeks. Of course, it’s a rose-tinted view that eschews a lot to appeal to a way of thiking that fits the statement of the piece. This is, of course, about a point of perspective, based more on a commentary of the times. It’s easy to say that men of a certain time have more class and taste, the truth of the matter (if there is any) is far more complex.
With De Niro and Hathaway, there’s a heartfelt sense of two people that are great friends. Moments of silliness occasionally threaten to undermine the good work, but they are thankfully few. Happily, The Intern is a film that, thanks to its engaging leads, brings home a lot of warmth. 3.5/5
Gareth Rhodes Film Reviews 
It’s sad that DeNiro’s greatest roles seems to be behind him, I watched the Godfather Part II the other night and wish there was another part like that out there for him. But he can do comedy, Midnight Run being the best example!
Hi Chris! Yes, De Niro’s career path has been a disappointment since the good old days of Taxi Driver, Raging Bull and Goodfellas. Lets hope some of the balance is redressed when he appears in Scorsese’s ‘The Irishman’.
Ah, didn’t know about that one. Long overdue a rewatch of Taxi Driver and Raging Bull…
Good to hear than this may be better than I’d been expecting. I had been wondering why Anne Hathaway was in it. Didn’t seem like she should need to do this anymore.