The Intern (2015)

Directed by: Nancy Meyers

Written by: Nancy Meyers

Starring: Robert De Niro & Anne Hathaway







Any movie with Robert De Niro in it is a good movie.  It's just a fact.  To me, he can't make a bad movie, but then again I haven't seen all his movies so....

But that is the case with this one.  I really enjoyed it.

When I went to the theater, it was packed.  There were old people.  There were young people.  And then there were all the inbetweeners.  It targeted all audiences, except kids, which made it fantastic.

The film centers around Ben Whittaker (De Niro) who is retired and a widower.  He's just trying to find something to do that let's him get up in the morning.  He finds a flyer that is hiring senior citizen interns as a new give back project.  He's hired.  He, unfortunately, gets assigned to Jules Ostin (Hathaway), the founder of an Internet clothing company, and is apparently hard to work for.  But working with Ben, she discovers a few things about him as well as herself and what she wants out of life.

I know that may be a very cryptic summary, but it's hard to make one without copying it from IMDB and without spoiling the film.

Anyway the film was mostly amazing because of the characters.  They are real people just like you and me and this is what Meyers specializes in.  She wants to make you feel and understand the character profiles she's trying to create on screen.  Jules and Ben both have insecurities and problems that come their way, but they deal with it any which way they can with each other's support.  It's a heartfelt movie and made me feel something.  I didn't cry or anything, but I did laugh and thought about life.

Now the main reason I like this movie is the feminism.  Ben understands that with the younger generations roles are being reversed.  Moms are the breadwinners and dads stay at home.  But what are the problems that come with this relationship?  And is it always the woman that has to sacrifice to make things work?  This film really got me thinking, especially since this is becoming more common today.  Sexism is still a major issue in the business world that it even seeps into personal relationships.

I was going to give this 4 popcorns, but with the star power and the message it gives, it bumped it up to 5.  Congrats Meyers for making an insightful film.