It takes some determination to write a story with zero drama. Imagine The Devil Wears Prada minus the ambition-driven characters, hostile work environment and nasty boss. Doesn’t sound like much a movie, does it? That’s The Intern.
De Niro is a seventy-year-old widower who likes to keep himself busy and so has applied for an elderly intern position at an online clothing company run by Anne Hathaway. He’s assigned to be her assistant, which – oh-oh - he’s told is a tough job as she’s difficult (the truth is she’s super nice). The company is so successful Hathaway’s investors have urged her to hire a CEO to share the burden, a move she’s against.
If De Niro was struggling to get over the death of his wife; if he was lonely; if he was desperate for money; if he found it too difficult to acquaint himself with computers and social media; if he was stuck in his ways; if his Old World clashed with her New World; if Hathaway was a demon to work for; if the business was going down the tubes; if her home life was crumbling; if there was some significant character flaw they both had to overcome. Meyers sidesteps all these possibilities.
What about the romance? This is a Nancy Meyers movie after all. It can’t be between De Niro and Hathaway because she has a nice husband (Holm) and a nice kid (JoJo Kushner), while nice Adam DeVine and nice secretary Christina Scherer are minor characters. So it falls to in-house masseuse (!) Rene Russo, who is really nice. But that romance goes swimmingly too. “I got sick a few years back…” Russo informs De Niro before hurrying to ensure everything remains cute - “…but I’m not anymore.” Almost felt something there. Good save. Feel good movies are fine but to feel good one has to first feel sad, no?
The humour is artificial and tired with one scenario that sees Russo giving De Niro a foot rub and from the vantage point of a co-worker it looks like it’s oral sex. And then there’s the upbeat soundtrack that infuriatingly accompanies every single sentence just in case a word or two may be construed as negative. Eventually, about ninety minutes in, a crisis moment wanders by and Meyers opts for the laziest and most obvious turn of events.
The one positive is that The Intern highlights that the elderly have a huge role to play in both business and our personal lives if only we would listen to their wisdom. Everything else is a terrible mess.