The Internship

Starring: Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson, Rose Byrne, John Goodman, Aasif Mandvi, Max Minghella, Josh Brener, Josh Gad, Rob Riggle
Directed by: Shawn Levy
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Comedy
2013

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Two middle-aged salesmen (Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson) who've lost their jobs get an unpaid internship at Google.
Review:

Tim: I didn't hate The Internship. I need to let that sink in for a moment. This movie looked completely ridiculous from the commercials- it looked like Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson were old, tired, and trying way too hard. I expected this movie to be a disaster. While I can't claim that this is a good movie (because, honestly, it's not), it's actually a pretty decent comedy. I was mostly entertained by the story. That is shocking to me, but Shawn Levy directs a fairly decent film. That's amazing, because this movie could have been terrible.

Now, I don't want you to think I liked this film, because I cannot say that I did. The film is ridiculous in many ways. First off, it paints Google in way too favorable a light, and the whole thing is just so very hard to buy. It's a completely ridiculous movie. Hiring doesn't work like this, Google doesn't work like this, and this whole thing is a far cry from real life. There are a few subplots that just don't pan out and aren't very effective. For example, Rose Byrne gave a nice little performance, but she didn't fit very well in the larger context of the film. I felt like her story was severely underdeveloped. This film was some really big flaws. While it has some funny moments, there's far too many moments that aren't humorous. The comedy sometimes fails.

Now, putting realism aside for a moment, it's somewhat funny to watch Vaughn and Wilson competing in a "mental hunger games," as they call it. Some of these intellectual challenges are humorous, if unrealistic. Still, they are fairly entertaining. There are some legitimately funny moments. I still laugh at the whole "Charles Xavier" sequence. While this is a very uneven movie, there are certainly some highs.

The cast is pretty good. Vaughn and Wilson have a lot of history together, and they're comfortable together on screen. I liked their characters, specifically that they were people people. Their focus on building relationships and caring about people is a hugely important lesson with the advent of technology, which often push people apart. The human connection is often lost in this world of pervading technology, and these two characters were a tremendous reminder of the importance of human relationships. Vaughn and Wilson did a good job bringing that to life. Their comedic timing is good, and it was fun watching them on screen. I like Rose Byrne, but felt she wasn't used as well as she should have been. The rest of the supporting cast is actually very impressive. There's not a lot of big names, but everyone delivered strong performances.

Getting any enjoyment out of this movie depends on your willingness to ignore all the absurdity of the film. And, quite frankly, this movie is not afraid to pile it on. I think all viewers have their breaking point, and sooner or later, this movie will cross that line. For me personally, the overall quality of the movie was hurt greatly by the script and the ridiculousness of the whole story. Still, even though it was weak and flawed, that didn't mean I was unable to find some enjoyment in it. I think most viewers will find something to like.

The Internship isn't a very good movie. And yet, given the topic and what the film looked like in its trailers, I'm shocked that it was as good as it ended up being. This is a pretty forgettable comedy, but it's not wholly unenjoyable. With the talent involved, this needed to be better than it was, but I'm just so thankful it wasn't worse.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Made, The Dilemma