THE INTERNSHIP

 

One of the reasons that I was so grateful to have been offered tickets to an advanced screening of The Internship last night was because, for me, it was one of those films where you are wary of whether or not it will be worth paying the increasingly extortionate price of a cinema ticket. I’m not going to lie, the trailer had definitely caught my attention and I did find myself thinking that it might actually be pretty good but Wilson/ Vaughn films are so hit and miss for me and following my latest comedy experience with The Hangover III I just didn’t know if I wanted to pay for such disappointment once again. 

The Internship tells the story of Nick (Owen Wilson) and Billy (Vince Vaughn), two forty-something-year-old men who find themselves unemployed and at a dead end in their lives. They somehow become interns at Google and find themselves completely lost in a World of young, technology-savvy kids that they need to compete with in order to get a shot at full-time employment.

Google is great, let's worship Google

Upon seeing the trailer I had labeled the film as a two-hour, six-million-dollar, egotistical marketing campaign to show how great and brilliant and fun Google is, and with the website’s logo emblazoned across every promotional piece to do with the film I doubt that I am the only one to have made such assumptions. So imagine my surprise when I discovered that not only was the film’s entire concept in fact the brain-child of actor and screenwriter Vince Vaughn, but also that Google didn’t pay a penny for all of the product placement and Google-loving promotion that the film gives it (yet still had to give its final depiction approval before the film could be released). I just find this absolutely mind-blowing - in exchange for the entire film Google gave cast and crew five days access to Google headquarters. FIVE DAYS ACCESS FOR A TWO HOUR LONG PROMOTION. My mind boggles but we are getting off topic - back to the film!

As it goes, the film was actually better than I expected. It is feel-good and heartwarming with some genuinely funny moments that had me laughing-out-loud. As I said, Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson aren’t always a winning formula for me and although I love Starsky and Hutch, there are other films of theirs that overstep the mark and are just a bit too stupid for me to enjoy.**

I was relieved to find that The Internship falls closer to the Starsky and Hutch end of the Wilson/Vaughn spectrum; no insensitive or shock-dependent attempts at humour and  no borderline-slapstick stupidity. Although there were times where Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson were a bit too… Well, Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson and their buffoon-like, over-the-top antics became a little overbearing, the overall comedic essence that is carried throughout the film is witty and laugh-out-loud funny enough for the over the top parts to not detract too much from your total enjoyment of

The central cast has great chemistry

the film. The supporting cast was strong with some likeable albeit incredibly stereotypical characters – the genius Asian, the sultry good-looking heartthrob, the sexually repressed women and the token fat kid to name a few. Although the characters were conventional, the more central ones still had layers and depth that you may not find in other films of this sort and the way that the cast gelled together and you saw their relationships blossom made you feel connected as a viewer and actually care about the characters fate.The chemistry between the central cast was faultless and i found myself really believing in them all as a team with realistic and natural character development between them.

The thing with The Internship is that the characters are cliches, the story-arc is predictable and the humour is obvious but that doesn’t mean that it is bad viewing. If you are signing up to a light-hearted comedy then this film really does tick all of the boxes, it is by no means a cinematic masterpiece and it won’t blow your mind but I would question you if you were watching an Owen Wilson comedy in the hope of being artistically inspired. 

The Internship isn’t a film that will change your life but it will probably leave you with a fuzzy feeling inside, a smile on your face and a little bit of inner-anguish that you are not technological enough to ever get a job at Google. Though I wouldn’t urge you to head out and watch it as a matter of priority, if you are undecided on what to watch or just need a good laugh then it is worth seeing and as long as your expectations are realistic for a film of this kind, I highly doubt that you will be disappointed. 

All in all I award The Internship: ★★★✯ ☆
                                                                                      (three and a half)

The Internship is out nationwide from tomorrow, Wednesday 3rd July!

Stay tuned for more reviews and follow me on twitter if you fancy it :)

Love,

**

(Wedding Crashers in particular I can not stand, granted I have never watched further than the male rape scene near the beginning of the film but any film that depicts a man being tied up in his sleep and a girl having sex with him whilst he repeatedly says that he doesn’t want to and it being represented as a comedy isn’t for me – to read my dissertation on the representation of male rape in cinema then click here)