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You're Hired

"The Intern" is very much a Nancy Meyers film, featuring all the strengths and weaknesses of her past films. Set in a sun-kissed, fantasy-like Manhattan, there is no real edge or drama to the film, which you can accept or condemn it for. But, good luck trying to hate this movie because it is too charming to care about its shortcomings.

One of the movie's great pleasures is watching Robert De Niro play a character with a much softer edge. He stars as Ben Whitaker, a 70-year-old widower, who is struggling in retirement. He is a man of routine and feels lost not getting up at the same time every day to go to work and feel like he has a purpose. No amount of yoga or Mandarin lessons will fill the void of not having a job to go to.

One day, a flyer on the street catches his eye. An e-commerce site is launching a senior internship program for those who are trying to acquire new skills in their retirement years. The company is a fashion start-up, called About the Fit, which was started by Jules Ostin (Anne Hathaway), a young entrepreneur, who started the company in her house and grew it into a wildly successful business in no time at all.

Jules is very particular in how she likes to see things get done at her business and often involves herself in every aspect of the company. Ben is assigned to work with Jules as part of the internship program. She warns Ben there isn't going to be a lot for him to do but Ben waits close by, always eager to help.

Ben, who was in business for 40 years, has a lot of offer, and the closer he works with Jules, the more she realizes that. Jules isn't used to letting people in but she and Ben establish mutual respect for each other and even strike up an unorthodox friendship. None of Jules' employees have ever stepped foot on her block, let alone come over for morning coffee with her husband, Matt (Anders Holm) and daughter, Paige (JoJo Kushner).

At its core, "The Intern" is just a really nice movie about friendship. There is no set of rules of what makes a friend, so why can't a 30-something fashion maven be friends with a 70-year-old retiree and widower? Meyers' screenplay is at its strongest when Ben and Jules are interacting and showing us what a positive influence they are for each other. Hathaway and De Niro are so charming and likable together, you wonder why no one has paired these two before.

Like most of Meyers' films, the supporting cast is colorful but never really adds much to the overall story. Some of the scenes with Ben and the other interns, played by Adam DeVine, Zack Pearlman and Jason Orley, are fun but filler, extending "The Intern" to a two-hour runtime. Christina Scherer gets to steal a few scenes as Becky, Jules' overworked assistant.

Meyers sprinkles a good amount of commentary throughout "The Intern", but really only ever grazes the topics she presents. She makes some on-the-nose observations about age and gender roles in business but never develops them as real world issues. "The Intern" might have packed more of a punch if she had developed those aspects of her screenplay a little more.

She shoehorns a crisis into the third act to create a bit of tension or drama, which is missing from most of the story. But in classic Meyers fashion, it can all be cleared up with one big speech and the resolution is handed over to the audience with a giant bow on it. All it does is make you wish she had forgotten this particular conflict and spent that time with Jules and Ben's friendship.

I feel it is my duty to point out that this isn't a perfect film. The above were observations of how "The Intern" could have been a stronger film. But, you know what? I don't really care about those problems. I left this movie feeling relaxed and with a big smile on my face. Sometimes that's all you need.