The Intern
Director: Nancy Meyers
Stars: Robert De Niro, Anne Hathaway, Rene Russo
Duration: 121 mins
Class: 12
KRS Releasing Ltd

“Retirement is an ongoing, relentless effort in creativity.” So Ben Whittaker (Robert De Niro) informs us. Ben, a 70-year-old widower, has tried yoga, learned how to cook and took classes in Mandarin yet he still has too much time on his hands. He gamely signs up for the internship programme offered by Jules Ostin’s (Hathaway) booming online fashion company, About the Fit.

Ben is accepted and assigned to work with the big boss. Jules is initially resistant to the idea of Ben being around her, yet he soon proves to be a great help and, before long, he becomes her shoulder to lean on.

The premise behind The Intern is an engaging one – the idea of senior citizens given the chance to contribute to society beyond retirement throws up great potential. However, the film’s focus is ultimately more on Hathaway’s character Jules, as she juggles the demands of her ever-expanding business and her family at home.

The Intern is the latest in a series of films written and directed by Nancy Meyers, whose career has been built on telling women’s stories with a deft, comedic touch. Her successes include Private Benjamin, Baby Boom, What Women Want and It’s Complicated. This film follows suit, tackling as it does the perennial question of whether women can handle their jobs, married life and motherhood concurrently.

It’s a question that should no longer be asked. Yet, the sad reality out there is that it is. However, the film doesn’t attempt a solution and, for all its good intentions to avoid stereotypes, it does tend to fall into cliché. Jules is presented as a bit of a control freak and in the main subplot she is facing the prospect of a CEO being imposed on her, because the company is growing too fast, with the implication that she is incapable of handling her own success.

For all its good intentions to avoid stereotypes, it does tend to fall into cliché

Thankfully, her husband Matt (Anders Holm) is a supportive (for now) stay-at-home dad. But even this fails to ease her load. The tone of the film is too light to truly examine the issue in any depth, ultimately side-stepping the issue it highlights, and by the end, the story ties things up rather too neatly.

More successful is the relationship between the two protagonists. The Intern does present a warm, believable platonic relationship between an older man and a younger woman, and it is in the chemistry between De Niro and Hathaway’s characters that the film really sparks.

They share a great rapport and the film charts the course of their relationship in a truly authentic way, from their banter in Jules’ office during their first encounter to the final scenes. For a brief – and horrifying – moment, as a scene unfolded where Ben agrees to accompany Jules on a business trip, I thought the relationship would turn into a romantic one. But Meyers knows what she was doing, using this scene to cement this genuine friendship, a connection based on mutual affection, trust and respect.

Hathaway, an actress who rarely puts a foot wrong, adds many layers to the struggling mom trope. She offers a performance that is honest in Jules’ difficult moments and witty in the funnier ones. I wish the script also explored her more quirky side more – she cycles around the office – but it makes up for it with the many delightful scenes she shares with her co-star as their friendship unfolds.

De Niro is really good here; he is naturally delightful and funny, with some lovely poignancy thrown in. A scene where he is watching an old movie that clearly evokes memories of his late wife will bring a tear to the eye. There is something exquisitely charming about the character – that of an appealing, old-fashioned, impeccably-dressed gentleman who is not averse to modern foibles. This is one of the better characters he has tackled in recent years in an unforced, carefree performance.

The rapport that unfolds between him and a group of younger, very casually dressed co-workers, thanks to his worldly words of wisdom is also credible – so much so that a superfluous scene in which they break into someone’s home works, offering some good giggles.

Rene Russo charms as Ben’s potential love interest – a woman who sticks around even though he takes her to a funeral on their first date – while Linda Lavin as a neighbour who has eyes on Ben is rather funny in a couple of brief scenes.