The Intern hits us right in the millennial feels

Last updated on: September 25, 2015 at 2:59 pm by Andrew Collins

The Intern hits us right in the millennial feels 2015-09-25T14:59:27-06:00 Andrew Collins

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Review of The Intern, Directed by Nancy Meyers

It started to drag at the end, but otherwise I loved “The Intern.” I didn’t love it because it’s a first-rate piece of cinema. Like MySpace and Napster and virtually everything you did on Twitter today, I suspect it will be forgotten pretty quickly. I loved it because it hit me right in the Millennial “feels.” To quote one of its Buzzfeed-curated characters: “I’m kind of in love with it.”

Yes, just like Polaroids and skinny ties, I’m kind of in love with this movie in that fleeting impulsive infatuation sort of way. “The Intern” keeps firing away at that omg-I-can-totes-relate sweet spot, stoking the hope that that Instagram-worthy life of accomplishment that always feels just a little out of reach might actually be attainable. When a movie does that, when it speaks into that timely moment that perfectly captures both one’s individual life as well as the broader cultural whirlwind of the social age, you just have to enjoy it, tip your hat, and post that fresh tomato.

“The Intern” tells the story of 70-year-old retiree and widower Ben Whittaker (Robert De Niro). Ben has lived a full, happy life, but retirement has proved dull, empty, and lonely, so on a whim he applies for a senior intern program at a hip, startup fashion website founded by Jules Ostin (Anne Hathaway). You can probably imagine the hilarity that ensues from the age gap, a true cultural clash. Nearly all of the jokes are on point and made in good fun. Age is not sacred – during the interview process a startup employee played by Nat Wolff, who barely looks 20, asks Ben where he sees himself in 10 years.

Awk.

But youth is not sacred either. At one point Jules wonders how in one generation men went from Jack Nicolson to the three shabby guys standing in front of her. All of the young men in the film, in fact, struggle to find their footing in the world, such as when Ben gives a hapless coworker some tips about how to make up with a girl he likes (try talking to her instead of texting a million times).

Image Source: Wikimedia

It’s funny because it’s both sad and true, but The Intern’s appeal goes deeper than humor. It shows us that while the learning curve between old and young has grown steeper, it is not altogether insurmountable. It thus speaks to this deepening divide between age demographics with a lighthearted accuracy and healthy pinch of progressive idealism.

Put another way, the struggle is real, but you can indeed “Lean In” a la Sheryl Sandberg by creating something amazing and total you – and be happy doing it.

It all starts with De Niro, who literally shoulders the film (I mean literal in the not-literal way, of course). He plays the 70-year-old man we wish everyone his age was like. He realizes that he is out of touch. The world around him is pushing forward ever rapidly and he isn’t too keen on trying to resist it like some old fogey. He has peacefully retired and grasps that his best years and the old days are past. The phone book factory into which he invested his career has been gutted and revamped as the HQ of Jules’ company. But Ben isn’t trying to belittle or begrudge the youth culture. He isn’t trying to tell them how to live their lives. On the contrary he is quite affirming of the perceived progress society has made – impeccably so, in fact, in contrast to many of the potential CEOs that Jules interviews as potential leaders of the company. This leaves Ben free to stay busy and find purpose in helping however he can, whether it’s a task as simple as picking up dry cleaning or as weighty as evaluating potential new revenue streams. His humility is – again – impeccable.

This might be a presumptuous claim for 25-year-old digital media manager like myself to make, but I think baby boomers could take a page or two from Ben’s playbook. Don’t despise the kids, meet them where they’re at, because like or not the world is online, the Mark Zuckerberg-type is king, and there’s no going back.

But at the same time guess what? You old folks still have something to offer – things like perspective and the peace and levelheadedness that comes from a life lived (emphasis on the past tense). As Jules comes to see, we need you seniors. Seriously, we do, because for all our snappy apps and trophies and Facebook friends, we millennial young guns are fragile, trembling wrecks on the inside, full of angst and insecurities. When we find ourselves breaking down in a hotel room the night before a meeting with a CEO, with fractured romances waiting for us after the flight home from San Francisco and our entire future hanging in the balance in this next big decision (or so it always seems at the time), who will be there for us? Who will have that steady shoulder to cry on?

Ben Whittaker, the guy who spent his life making phone books, that’s who.

Previous Post

September 18, 2015

Everest: Human Courage, Human Frailty

Next Post

October 10, 2015 Labyrinth of Lies powerfully confronts the silence of postwar Germany

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Action AFI Top 100 Animation Best Picture Winner BFI Top 250 Biography Biopic Books Childrens Christian Classics Classics Comedy Crime Documentary Drama Editor's Choice Family Fantasy Fantasy Films Foreign Historical Historical Fiction History Horror Horror IMDB Top 250 Indie Memoir Modern Novel Musical Mystery Non-Fiction Oscars Philosophy Poetry Popular Literature Reading and Writing Reality Romance Science Fiction Science Fiction Silent Sports Thriller TV Show Uncategorized Western Westerns Young Adult

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 June 2017 January 2017 December 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does the rider of the White Horse in Revelations carry?

Select your answer to see how you score.

A bow A sword A scroll Scales