By Nur Balqish Isarudin Shah
A film directed and written by Nancy Meyers in 2015, ‘The Intern” is an American comedy film that gathered 194.5 million USD in US Box Office. The main characters for this film are Robert De Niro who played as Ben Whittaker, Anne Hathaway played as Jules Ostin, and Rene Russo played as Fiona. This film is about a retired successful businessman and young women who run a fashion website. Generally, “The Intern” is the most enjoyable and suitable to watch by all age.
Ben Whittaker is a widower and was a successful retired businessman before he found a flyer asking for senior citizens to apply for an internship. Seeing this as an opportunity to get back to work, he sent a video resume and finally worked as one of the interns at an online fashion site, About the Fit, founded and run by Jules Ostin.
While watching this movie, I got to see many scenes at the workplace, kitchen and in front of the house as background. These three places are very significant because the main subjects for this movie are the hardworking wife, the househusband and the seniors who never get tired to explore the new world. I get to see how a senior generation put an effort to blend in with the generation that is younger than him. The effort that he put is splendid. His boss who is younger than him keeps thinking that an old man like him should not do much job, but at the end, he managed to prove to her that he can do it and his boss started to pay attention to him.
Ben Whittaker is loaded with so much experience that opens the eyes of everyone around him. He is very sensitive to everyone around him that made him managed to say right words to everybody especially Jules when she needs it without feeling hurt or angry. He managed to capture everyone’s heart and make them feel comfortable with him. This film makes you feel like you are actually watching your 70-year old grandfather who is lonely and hardworking, jumps in to any opportunity that will make him able to work again and gain many new friends even though they are so much younger than him. This film also gives you a number of surprises that can make you feel angry, pity and fascinated with the information given.
Apart from that, I also got a chance to see the formal technique that the cinematographer and team have applied in this movie. I would say that the cinematography for this movie is moderately good. The movie could lighten up your day as the genre of this movie is comedy and family-based. The lighting was quite good and it gives us a clear motion picture.
In this movie also I could hear voices made by all characters are stable and clearly pronounced. In fact, the sound effect has also raised emotional response from me. However, there are some scenes that we, as Muslims, should not watch it. Thus, there’s the need to sensor or filter those scenes. But overall, the scenario for “The Intern” is pretty good. Although both the actor and the actress, (Anne Hathaway and Robert De Niro) have a gap in terms of age they still have a strong chemistry in acting as in the end I could see that there is such father-daughter relationship as well as male-female friendship between them. And for that, I say that “The Internship” deserves a credit.
As a conclusion, I would say that I love the part where Nancy Meyers blends the culture between classic and modern culture. It is remarkable because it reminds us of something that we had missed from the older generation and something that the older generation needs to learn in order to help them catch up with current life styles.
This movie also teaches us to be hardworking and never give up on anything that you work with. Do anything that you feel right and consult with others who have more experience than you if you feel confused or hesitant in your decision making. Most importantly, never underestimate the ability of the older generation. Therefore, readers are highly recommended to watch “The Intern” as this movie gives us countless lessons, such as how you treat your subordinates, especially among the older, as well as how you communicate with other people. And for those who intend to do their internship, you are encouraged to watch this movie as it could help you deal with others in future.***