What will make longtime De Niro fans cringe is him spending an endless 30 seconds excessively blinking his eyes or Ben’s silent vocabulary of expressions he uses to communicate with Jules, including a “You go, girl!” look and a “You so insane!” smirk.
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Meyers, whose box office successes include romantic comedies What Women Want, The Parent Trap, The Holiday and It’s Complicated, described her leading stars as the “perfect combo”. It didn’t matter how I felt, because Jules feels comfortable around Ben and I just trusted that that was going to carry us.
I get it, I understand; women have come far, especially in the workplace. Ditto Hathaway, who could do the skittish career woman thing in her sleep by this point but hits all the familiar notes perfectly. “But at the same time I so respected the fact that the genre kind of needed an update”. The reason I made this movie was that [my husband and I] were visiting my in-laws and we couldn’t see any movies that we were thrilled about. And while De Niro is nicely relaxed and has some terrific reaction shots, Ben is too ideal – so eternally patient, so wise and understanding – and the occasional flashes of his portrayer’s wicked smile are the only things suggesting a human being under all that bland, deferential subservience.
Tearful self-discovery is accessorized with broad humour, and De Niro and Hathaway catalyse a winning screen partnership.
A hysterical centrepiece sequence, laden with Ocean’s Eleven references, belongs to a different film entirely but suggests that you’re never too old to break the law for a good reason.
The Intern opens in cinemas nationwide on October 2. I’d happily have spent more than two hours with those characters. And I admire the chutzpah it took to attempt this, and much of the skill evident in its execution. For the record: It’s gross.
The movie tells the fascinating tale of what happens when a 70-year-old retired executive decides her will fill his time by becoming the unpaid lackey to the founder and CEO of an e-commerce fashion company. They’ve got the munchies! And I even like to entertain the idea that Bob actually is that senior citizen privately, maybe even occasionally sitting in a little park close to his neighborhood in New York in a jaunty hat and a beige windbreaker, playing chess with some other crusty old men. It’s just the best glamorous ever. There are, admittedly, more than a few groaners sprinkled throughout.
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“Those movies didn’t go my way, but this one did”.
