The new comedy “The Intern” by Nancy Meyers proves itself to be likeable but not necessarily memorable.
Jules Ostin, played by Anne Hathway, is the founder of a successful online fashion start-up. She is work-obsessed and intolerant as her life choices are scrutinized and her vulnerabilities exposed.
Enter 70 year-old widower Ben Whittaker, played by Robert De Niro, as he tries to keep busy since the recent loss of his wife.
He takes on an internship in Jules’ fashion company as part of a project for senior citizens.
Meanwhile, Jules’ investors are demanding that she hire a CEO, which would reduce her workload, but put her under someone else’s leadership.
The film gradually becomes less about her relationship with Ben and more about her search for a new business partner and her uncertainty about whether she should even hire one.
It is a warm and funny movie, with its involving and amiable characters and delivering just about what you would expect.
The dynamic between Hathaway and De Niro is delightful and adds most of the movie’s merit, but sometimes the characters and plotting seem designed more to prove a point than tell a story.
For most of its running time, “The Intern” gets its power from Hathaway’s energy.
But, the film eventually becomes a series of monologues about ambition.
As the speeches pile up, so does the film’s magic.
However, it is Hathaway’s portrayal of Jules that carries the film.
For all of the movie’s charms, it falls short on actual substance.
I rate it a 3 out of 5.