Review: The Intern

BY SAMANTHA ROBERTS

Nancy Meyers’, The Intern, warmed many audience hearts in theaters. The Intern features Robert De Niro as the lovable elder, Ben Whittaker, and Anne Hathaway as the workaholic, Jules Ostin. The movie dually opens with both of their lives; first, the uninteresting life of Ben Whittaker, and then the very busy life of Jules Ostin. It showcases Whittaker as the typical retired, widowed, old man. The movie expresses to the audience how bland his life is now that he’s so lonely. Fortunately, soon into the movie, he finds a flyer on the streets promoting a new internship for seniors (senior citizens, that is) at Ostin’s fashion company, About The Fit. After his decision to apply, the movie transitions into the life of Ostin. It automatically shows her as a completely engrossed business woman. She even uses a bike to efficiently, but hastily, travel around the office. Ostin was not too knowledgeable about her own new internship program, but once she was informed about it, her first impression was very sarcastic, and she even acted like the whole thing was a burden.

Whittaker goes through the entire interview process to find out that he was one of the best candidates. The movie mentioned that when he was younger, he used to work as a business consultant and even graduated from Penn University with his degree. He was assigned to work directly with Ostin, as her personal intern. She, at first, was not very involved with him. She even told him that this intern program was for the sole purpose of making her company look good. That attitude of hers did not last long, though. Ostin and Whittaker began to build a very strong friendship. He would pick her up from her house every morning, help her with work assignments, and even offer his personal insights and ideas.

At first, Ostin is only shown at her company, staying long hours and taking care of her business. Meyers purposely waited to show that Ostin actually has a husband and a young daughter! This came as a surprise to many people sitting in the theaters. Something was a little off about the husband from the beginning though. You could tell that he was not completely thrilled for his wife about her successful job, seeing as it made her a little too busy for her family life. The movie explained how the husband had to quit his job to take care of their daughter once Ostin’s company jumpstarted.

Overall, The Intern was an entertaining movie that was easy for any audience to enjoy, including valuable life lessons throughout the storyline.  The first to be accounted for is the importance of putting first impressions aside. Ostin’s first thoughts on Whittaker were not too positive, however, once the movie continued they developed quite the friendship. Another lesson would be to never give up and follow your dreams. Ostin was a young woman who had a dream, and she followed it. Since women are not seen as the “one who makes the money in the family”, her success is very valuable.

These two main characters fit together like peas in a pod, creating a very pleasant, cheerful movie perfect for a Sunday afternoon. Hathaway, famous for her performance in Les Misérables and The Devil Wears Prada, works extremely well with De Niro, famous for his performance in the Godfather and Goodfellas. Together, they created an accurate representation of what a friendship between a modern working woman and a retired elder would be like.
The Intern was meant for every audience and did not disappoint. The movie was light-hearted and enjoyable. Looking around the theater, I saw almost every age group, and each one was laughing and smiling throughout the duration of the movie. The plot was easy to follow and made for a great conversation starter after it was over. The movie was “cute”, and Hathaway’s collaboration with De Niro was incredible. Go see this movie, if you haven’t already.