WASHINGTON 鈥� Nancy Meyers may be the closest voice we have to the late Nora Ephron (鈥淪leepless in Seattle”) with an adult charm聽in the vein of聽James L. Brooks (鈥淎s Good As It Gets鈥�).
After sharing a screenplay Oscar nomination for聽鈥淧rivate Benjamin鈥� (1980), Meyers parlayed writing credits on 鈥淛umpin鈥� Jack Flash鈥� (1986) and 鈥淔ather of the Bride鈥� (1991) into a directing career with the Lindsay Lohan remake of 鈥淭he Parent Trap鈥� (1998). She followed with a string of solid efforts starring Hollywood royalty:聽鈥淲hat Women Want鈥� (2000) with聽Mel Gibson,聽Helen Hunt and Marisa Tomei; 鈥淪omething鈥檚 Gotta Give鈥� (2003)聽with聽Jack Nicholson,聽Diane Keaton and Keanu Reeves; 鈥淭he Holiday鈥� (2006)聽with聽Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet and Jude Law; and her Golden-Globe nominated 鈥淚t鈥檚 Complicated鈥� (2009) casting聽Meryl Streep in a love triangle with Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin.
If you liked at least two or three of those movies, you’ll enjoy her聽sixth directorial effort, “The Intern,” which arrives after a six-year hiatus.聽This time, Meyers introduces us to a聽70-year-old Manhattan widower named Ben Whittaker (Robert DeNiro), who forgoes retirement to become a senior intern at a Brooklyn online fashion site, founded and run by the hardworking Jules Ostin (Anne Hathaway).
While the聽premise聽may seem high concept in all the wrong ways, it becomes so much more聽in the hands of its two Oscar winners, who have floored us聽from聽“Les Miserables” (2012) to “Raging Bull” (1980). When you have a far-fetched concept, you need convincing conduits聽to pull it off, and DeNiro and Hathaway do their damnedest to聽steer聽this one toward the sweet and away from the saccharine.
Ironically, this fruitful pairing almost didn’t happen. The project was originally meant for Tina Fey and Michael Caine at聽Paramount Pictures before moving to Warner Bros. with聽Reese Witherspoon, who was eventually replaced by Hathaway.聽These behind-the-scenes maneuvers ultimately worked out for the better, as Hathaway聽proves to be the perfect vehicle for the heroine’s ambitions.
Hathaway infuses a聽genuine,聽beating heart聽into an otherwise聽cookie-cutter聽role of the聽formulaic feminist聽struggling with work-life balance. It’s largely a credit to Hathaway that we聽feel her inner anguish聽over聽whether to聽hire a C.E.O. to run the very company she built 鈥� just so she can spend more time聽with her stay-at-home husband (Anders Holm) and adorable daughter (JoJo Kushner).
When surprising plot points take the script into unexpected directions, we聽similarly聽feel the weight of Hathaway’s聽new reality, placing us in her shoes with a “what would you do” decision. Yet it’s DeNiro who really sells this new conflict, saying so much with his eyes without saying a word with his lips. The moment the two of them confront the “secret,” we’ve sufficiently bought into the聽dilemma.
While these聽dramatic DeNiro moments remind us of so many “Goodfellas” slow-mo stare-downs, the movie also reminds us of DeNiro’s supreme comic talent, making us laugh just by blinking.
This is the comic DeNiro that’s bubbled under the tough-guy surface ever since “The King of Comedy” (1982), the same sly guy who cracked us up with circles of trust in聽“Meet the Parents” (2000). As he聽puts away his “Taxi Driver” (1976) isolation聽to become Hathaway’s impromptu chauffeur in “The Intern,” we wonder how Travis Bickle would’ve reacted to back seat texting. “You talkin’ to me?” No, I’m texting you. And tweeting you. And Instagramming聽you. Who聽talks anymore?
To quote聽Travis: “Someday a real rain will come and wash all this (social media) scum off the streets.”
Here, the cleansing rain comes in the form of increasing聽human interaction between聽Hathaway and DeNiro. Their initial conversations are fractured by technology, as Hathaway reassigns him via text without his knowing. Soon, they bond聽over technology, as DeNiro describes his former phone book company while Hathaway helps him set up his first Facebook page. Finally,聽they聽scrap聽technology entirely to have a heart-to-heart discussion face-to-face in a hotel room during a business trip.
In this way, Hathaway’s personal journey inspires her to appreciate the old-fashioned manners of DeNiro, who still聽brings聽a calculator to work, carries a briefcase,聽tucks in his聽shirt and carries a chivalrous handkerchief (paying off like Jimmy Stewart’s聽socks in “The Shop Around the Corner”).
Such聽old-school habits聽are not just charming to the聽younger co-workers聽鈥斅燗dam DeVine, Nat Wolff, Christina Scherer and Zack Pearlman 鈥� they’re an聽aphrodisiac to聽the聽office masseuse, Rene Russo, who has fun聽playfully seducing instead of being blackmailed into sex like in “Nightcrawler” (2014).
As cute as these generational observations can be,聽Meyers occasionally overreaches with exposition. Throughout, characters dissect social politics聽by thinking out loud in a way that human beings likely wouldn’t talk to each other. We understand the script has certain聽points to make on age and gender in the valiant quest for聽social commentary, but these points could have used more dialogue disguise.
Similar discretion could have been used in the trimming of unnecessary scenes, like聽a covert mission to delete an accidental聽email (a secret Hillary Clinton jab?). Despite a聽few chuckles with the聽“Ocean’s Eleven” theme music, you could remove the scene without affecting the story one bit. The email’s recipient virtually disappears from the script, so the聽entire gag plays out like a distracting聽interlude.
Overall, though, Meyers has聽some important things to say about gender politics in the Millennial Generation.聽“How in one generation have men gone from guys like Jack Nicholson and Harrison Ford to …,” Hathway quips, before trailing off in despair聽while looking at the sloppy聽guys at the bar.
She then points to DeNiro to make a statement:聽“Look and learn, boys, because this is what cool is.”
Indeed, nothing in cinema is cooler than聽DeNiro strutting into the bar with a girl on each arm in “Mean Streets” (1973). Remember the song? The Stones’ “Jumpin’ Jack Flash.”聽Just because Meyers once wrote a script called “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” doesn’t mean she fully grasps the idea of cinematic “cool,” nor does she necessarily need to. She’s more occupied with the idea of “decent,” in every sense of the word. Decent as in good-hearted. Decent as in polite. Decent as in above-average.
“The Intern” is smart enough to call out Millennials for ways to improve their lot. But like the young adolescents, the film itself is trying to figure out what it wants to be, bouncing around with energy, not聽realizing its shirt is sticking out, but still lovable because you can聽see聽the good intentions.
The above rating is based on a 4-star scale. See where this film ranks in our聽. Follow 海角精品黑料 Film Critic Jason Fraley on Twitter .
