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The Intern
The preview I saw made this film look charming, but potentially sexist. It was indeed ridiculously charming--I suspect I'm going to buy it just for comfort watching in the future--but actually I thought in many ways it was remarkably feminist. (Spoilers behind the cut)
Specifically, going into it I was concerned about 2 things: First, there was a scene in the previews where De Niro was bonding with a bunch of dudebro interns, suggesting a high level of possible dudebro-ness in the film, which I was not looking forward to. Second, the overall premise--70 year old retired business exec becomes an intern at a startup run by a harried young female CEO--seemed set up to be all about De Niro's character (Ben)teaching Hathaway's character (Jules) the ropes, or how to be more human, or something along those lines, which, UGH.
But there is surprisingly little dudebro-ness in the film as a whole, and when it does occur, it's mainly so Ben can school the boys not in "being a real man" (which is another thing I feared) but actually in being a real human being. I mean, the only truly gendered piece of advice he gives them is to always carry a handkerchief so you can offer it to a crying woman, but even that, in the context of the scenes it is presented, comes off as being emotionally sensitive, more than anything.
And it's true, Ben's whole role in the film is to be the charming older mentor, and that's what he does for everyone. (Have I said charming a lot in this review? Because my god, De Niro kills this--really I could just watch him be kind and charismatic and sweet and dapper like this for hours on end; Ben's character really just is a delight, the kindly uncle you wish you had). But what really, really surprised me about the film is how respectful he is, especially of Jules.
When he is first introduced to her character, all the other characters, though reporting on how successful she is--in 18 months her online clothing company has grown from nothing to having 220 employees--emphasize how difficult she is, how overscheduled, how she doesn't remember their names or recognize their hard work. We see her going from 5 minute meeting to 5 minute meeting as she bicycles around their open-plan office space. It seemed like what was going to happen was that he was going to somehow teach her to know her employees better, schedule her time better, and perhaps stop micromanaging; there is a scene, for example, where she stops by the warehouse to teach the employees there a better way to package clothing.
But what Ben actually does is not teach her, but listen to her and support her. Yes, he does the thing where he starts doing some behind-the-scenes work to make her life easier, but he's extremely non-intrusive, and doesn't volunteer advice to her (though he does mentor the dudebros a little on relationships and dressing appropriately). When he has built enough of a relationship with her that she wants his advice, primarily what he gives her is affirmation of her own talents, admiration and respect, and the conviction that she has created the company and shouldn't pass its leadership to someone else just because of doubts about what it's doing to her marriage. Even though Ben is clearly the main character in the film, the storyline is all about his role supporting Jules, so it's her decisions that mark the climax of the plot. I honestly can't remember another film where the main plot is a male protagonist supporting a woman who he is not romantically involved with or who is not his daughter.
Also, a significant subplot is that Jules' husband, who stepped back from his own job to become a stay-at-home dad when her business took off, is unhappy that he never sees her anymore and is having an affair. Neither Ben nor the writers of the film seem to blame Jules for this, though, and they never suggest she should give up her job or even hire a different CEO to give her more time. (Jules considers doing this, but it's clear from the overall tone of the film this would be the wrong decision for her to make). I suppose I shouldn't find it remarkable that the film--and Ben--support Jules' leadership, and don't ever suggest she should step back even for the sake of her adorable daughter, but I did find it refreshingly unusual for Hollywood.
Anne Hathaway is also excellent in this--I think Jules could have come across as way less sympathetic in the hands of another actress, but her performance makes her very relatable. There's a great scene where she is drunk and gives a speech about how when "girls" became "women," somehow men all became boys, which seems very true to me, and clearly encapsulates the theme of the film. Ben is a kind of millennial female fantasy about what guys used to be like, when manliness (though it's never expressed in those terms) was the goal, rather than being an adult boy. I say fantasy, because while Ben wears a suit everyday, is always polite and carries a handkerchief for crying ladies, he is also non-sexist and sometimes actively feminist, always supportive of Jules, honest, and possessing good relationship skills. (He is also the same age as my dad, so while I know men of his generation and class may have worn suits to the office daily, they did not regularly carry handkerchiefs, and were certainly not all paragons of feminism or possessing great relationship skills!)
Although certain aspects of Ben's character are too good to be true, I did think some of his perspectives on aging and loss were fantastic. His reflections of the loss of purpose that comes with retirement were great, as were his meditations on the ubiquity of funerals for people in his generation . His first date with Rene Russo's character is at a funeral! Their growing relationship, which is very low key and not really central to the plot, is nevertheless one of the highlights of the film.
There are also several scenes that are just hilarious. My favorite was probably the heist that Ben has to pull off with the dudebros to save Jules from a potential family catastrophe.
Overall I would really recommend this film. I'm surprised I haven't seen more people talking about it!
Specifically, going into it I was concerned about 2 things: First, there was a scene in the previews where De Niro was bonding with a bunch of dudebro interns, suggesting a high level of possible dudebro-ness in the film, which I was not looking forward to. Second, the overall premise--70 year old retired business exec becomes an intern at a startup run by a harried young female CEO--seemed set up to be all about De Niro's character (Ben)teaching Hathaway's character (Jules) the ropes, or how to be more human, or something along those lines, which, UGH.
But there is surprisingly little dudebro-ness in the film as a whole, and when it does occur, it's mainly so Ben can school the boys not in "being a real man" (which is another thing I feared) but actually in being a real human being. I mean, the only truly gendered piece of advice he gives them is to always carry a handkerchief so you can offer it to a crying woman, but even that, in the context of the scenes it is presented, comes off as being emotionally sensitive, more than anything.
And it's true, Ben's whole role in the film is to be the charming older mentor, and that's what he does for everyone. (Have I said charming a lot in this review? Because my god, De Niro kills this--really I could just watch him be kind and charismatic and sweet and dapper like this for hours on end; Ben's character really just is a delight, the kindly uncle you wish you had). But what really, really surprised me about the film is how respectful he is, especially of Jules.
When he is first introduced to her character, all the other characters, though reporting on how successful she is--in 18 months her online clothing company has grown from nothing to having 220 employees--emphasize how difficult she is, how overscheduled, how she doesn't remember their names or recognize their hard work. We see her going from 5 minute meeting to 5 minute meeting as she bicycles around their open-plan office space. It seemed like what was going to happen was that he was going to somehow teach her to know her employees better, schedule her time better, and perhaps stop micromanaging; there is a scene, for example, where she stops by the warehouse to teach the employees there a better way to package clothing.
But what Ben actually does is not teach her, but listen to her and support her. Yes, he does the thing where he starts doing some behind-the-scenes work to make her life easier, but he's extremely non-intrusive, and doesn't volunteer advice to her (though he does mentor the dudebros a little on relationships and dressing appropriately). When he has built enough of a relationship with her that she wants his advice, primarily what he gives her is affirmation of her own talents, admiration and respect, and the conviction that she has created the company and shouldn't pass its leadership to someone else just because of doubts about what it's doing to her marriage. Even though Ben is clearly the main character in the film, the storyline is all about his role supporting Jules, so it's her decisions that mark the climax of the plot. I honestly can't remember another film where the main plot is a male protagonist supporting a woman who he is not romantically involved with or who is not his daughter.
Also, a significant subplot is that Jules' husband, who stepped back from his own job to become a stay-at-home dad when her business took off, is unhappy that he never sees her anymore and is having an affair. Neither Ben nor the writers of the film seem to blame Jules for this, though, and they never suggest she should give up her job or even hire a different CEO to give her more time. (Jules considers doing this, but it's clear from the overall tone of the film this would be the wrong decision for her to make). I suppose I shouldn't find it remarkable that the film--and Ben--support Jules' leadership, and don't ever suggest she should step back even for the sake of her adorable daughter, but I did find it refreshingly unusual for Hollywood.
Anne Hathaway is also excellent in this--I think Jules could have come across as way less sympathetic in the hands of another actress, but her performance makes her very relatable. There's a great scene where she is drunk and gives a speech about how when "girls" became "women," somehow men all became boys, which seems very true to me, and clearly encapsulates the theme of the film. Ben is a kind of millennial female fantasy about what guys used to be like, when manliness (though it's never expressed in those terms) was the goal, rather than being an adult boy. I say fantasy, because while Ben wears a suit everyday, is always polite and carries a handkerchief for crying ladies, he is also non-sexist and sometimes actively feminist, always supportive of Jules, honest, and possessing good relationship skills. (He is also the same age as my dad, so while I know men of his generation and class may have worn suits to the office daily, they did not regularly carry handkerchiefs, and were certainly not all paragons of feminism or possessing great relationship skills!)
Although certain aspects of Ben's character are too good to be true, I did think some of his perspectives on aging and loss were fantastic. His reflections of the loss of purpose that comes with retirement were great, as were his meditations on the ubiquity of funerals for people in his generation . His first date with Rene Russo's character is at a funeral! Their growing relationship, which is very low key and not really central to the plot, is nevertheless one of the highlights of the film.
There are also several scenes that are just hilarious. My favorite was probably the heist that Ben has to pull off with the dudebros to save Jules from a potential family catastrophe.
Overall I would really recommend this film. I'm surprised I haven't seen more people talking about it!