Movie Review: The Intern

From phonebook to Facebook

Director: Nancy Meyers
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Robert De Niro
Genre: Comedy
Recommended for: Feel Good

The Gist:
Benjamin Whittacker (De Niro), a 70 year old much retired and much widowed man starts as an intern at an online fashion website. He works for Jules Ostin (Hathaway), the founder of this ecommerce startup. The movie revolves around this.

Some picks:

• Ben Whittacker is handsome, evident to the audience and to himself from all the attention he gets from the ladies. Add to it charms and chivalry, gentlemanly attire and enjoyment of new experiences (professional and personal). He's the Grand-dady Cool!

• Above The Fit gives a glimpse of a startup. "All-Cas", same floor, no cubicles culture. Work pressure- enormous. Staff bubbling with enthusiasm, founder leading a sleepless, foodless life, company grappling with customer service, delivery and VCs' issues. Also how you can have all the fancy degrees from big colleges and still don't get recognized at work.

• The Internship:

1. Ben- just like me- works for the boss and waits for an email that never seems to come. Waiting for work when all the other interns have started can be both fun and frustrating.
2. One of the guys gets to deliver an order for Jay Z and Beyonce. They are all 'psyched'. It's like you don't know what will happen at the end of the internship. You may or may not get hired. But your project gets you entry into a 5-Star. Or takes you across international waters. Unicorns and rainbows.
3. Sharing a table builds friendship. Ben and the boys gell well and share all the fun moments: the ladies and how to pick 'em up, drinks and doing bizzare stuff for your boss and fist-bumps. The guys help out Ben with things like operating a laptop and he teaches them all about dapper suits and vintage briefcases.

• The generation gap-it's sweet. How Jules helps Ben- the man with a 40 year old career in phonebook printing company- to join Facebook.  The self-made entreprenuer and the experienced ex-VP. While the boss is constantly texting, skyping and talking on the phone, her intern still sets alarm on his alarm clock. The guys wear crazy tees and jeans and the old intern loves to don a suit and shave everyday. 

• The work-life (im)balance

• Tai Chi- martial arts for longevity.