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The Intern - Movie Review

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3 stars

This one flew under the radar for this reviewer, but by all accounts did good business at the box office. Looking at the cover it appeared the The Intern was a rehash of Anne Hathaway’s shtick from The Devil Wears Prada (movie posters these days really suck), but one look at the director credit should have told me different.

Nancy Meyers has been entertaining people with likeable fair since the early 80s. She is responsible for the Goldie Hawn breakout hit Private Benjamin, among a long list of films, first as a writer and now as a director. Her films are always inoffensive, easy digestible fair — the kind of film you may happen upon flicking channels on a Sunday. And without fail you can sit back and watch some enjoyable premise performed with warmth and ease by whoever she casts.

Her latest offering The Intern was originally set for Tina Fey and Michael Caine, but as it happens (a lot these days) budgeting and timing took cast members in and out of contention, until finally cameras rolled in mid-2014 with Anne Hathaway and Robert De Niro headlining.

Ben (De Niro) is a 70 year-old widower who is finding retirement a little tough to endure, so he signs up to and senior’s intern program, and lands a job with a driven, and non-too receptive, internet start-up mogul, Jules (Hathaway).Very quickly, Ben’s gentle ways and life experience start to charm the technology driven Millennials into seeing life in other ways, especially his initially frosty boss. As Ben’s duties bring him closer to all aspects of Jules’ life, their friendship and bond serve to improve both their lives and set them on new paths for the better.

It’s a film that braves the demographically specific topic of getting old and sets itself apart by placing the central relationship of the film’s leads away from anything romantic. While that is a welcome difference the film doesn’t push at all. Every problem is easily solved, there are no real complexities, and one feels like a little more could have been done with the two characters come the credits.

Performances are great from everyone, and much like the story and the film as a whole, everyone seemed to just have a pleasant few months laying this film down. There’s nothing remarkable about this film, and nothing that sticks out as false or jarring, it’s just easy to get through.

It’s a comedy, but there are no real burst out loud moments. But all the characters are likeable and their banter does the job. It’s more sweet than funny. It feels horrible not be able to compliment the film more, as it was fun to sit through and review, but it really is just another well-made Vanilla Slice from Meyer’s. Nothing wrong with it, but nothing new either.

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[tab title="Film Details"]

The Intern - Movie Review

Classification: 12.
Runtime:
121 mins
Director
: Nancy Meyers
Writer:
Nancy Meyers
Cast:
Robert De Niro, Anne Hathaway, Rene Russo
Genre
: Comedy
Tagline:
Experience never gets old
Memorable Movie Quote: "Here you go... You're not as old as I thought you were."
Distributor:
Warner Bros Pictures
Official Site: http://www.theinternmovie.com/
Release Date:
September 25, 2015
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
January 19, 2016.
Synopsis: 70-year-old widower Ben Whittaker has discovered that retirement isn't all it's cracked up to be. Seizing an opportunity to get back in the game, he becomes a senior intern at an online fashion site, founded and run by Jules Ostin.

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[tab title="Blu-ray Review"]

The Intern - Blu-ray Review

Blu-ray

Blu-ray Details:

Available on Blu-ray - January 19, 2016
Screen Formats: 1.78:1
Subtitles
: English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese
Audio:
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit); French (Canada): Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps); Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1
Discs: 50GB Blu-ray Disc; Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD); UV digital copy; Digital copy; DVD copy
Region Encoding: A

It looks decent despite its lower bit rate (22.11 on a BD-50 equals about the half the disc being wasted). The 1080p AVC encode compliments some very unforgiving production design, showing the many whites and blacks cleanly and consistently. Colours, more from production choices than the transfer, pop against the background.

The 5.1 lossless DTS-HD track is much like the movie: competent, well executed but nothing whizz bang about it.

Featurettes x3 are the only special features.

Supplements:

Commentary:

  • None

Special Features:

  • Learning from Experience (4:46)
  • Designs on Life (6:07)
  • The Three Interns (5:46)

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