Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway team up in “The Intern,” a new light comedy set in Brooklyn. Time Warner Cable News film critic Neil Rosen filed the following review.
Robert De Niro is Ben Whitakker. He is a 70-year-old retired widower who gets an internship for seniors at a successful fashion website.
Hathaway plays Jules. She is the career-driven dynamo who owns the company.
Ben is assigned to be Jules’ personal intern, but she initially wants nothing to do with him.
Over a short period, Ben becomes a friend and confidant to several co-workers, who come to rely on his years of experience to help solve both their professional and personal problems.
Eventually, Jules comes around too and soon Ben becomes her right-hand man.
Jules has a young daughter and a husband. He is a stay at home dad and their marriage is going through a rough patch. Jules is also facing a crisis at work, as she is faced with relinquishing control of her company to a seasoned CEO.
Leave it to Ben to counsel Jules, and he always seems to know just the right thing to say to calm her down.
One of the main reasons that the movie is appealing is Robert De Niro, who gives one of his best performances in years. Surprisingly, it is not a showy part at all. He just plays an easygoing and wise, regular guy. He injects certain sweetness into his character and is rather lovable here, making you root for this determined senior who is not ready to call it quits at this point in his life.
Hathaway is just OK, but she gets the job done and has decent chemistry with De Niro. In addition, the supporting cast are all fine.
In the hands of the wrong filmmaker and stars, this premise could have easily gone south. However, writer/director Nancy Meyers avoids many pitfalls and overall, has made a nice little film that is peppered with several mild laughs.
Neil Rosen’s Big Apple Rating:
Three Apples