Okay, time for another movie rant.

The other day, I was browsing the $5 DVD bin on a Walmart run when I found The Intern and snatched it up. I’d remembered hearing good things about the film from Facebook friends when it first came out, and I tend to like Anne Hathaway. So I figured it was a safe bet to throw down five of our hard earned dollars.

I Was Wrong

Serious buyer’s remorse. Yes, I will regret a $5 purchase, because I have literally no interest in watching this movie ever again.

The premise is promising enough: an old guy (Robert De Niro) goes to work as an intern for a driven young professional woman (Anne Hathaway). I thought it sounded unique and probably kind of funny. Cute, at the very least.

But what it was, was a conglomeration of awkward moments, meandering conversations, only occasional humor, and a couple mildly endearing elements. It went on entirely too long and was boring enough that my husband and I spent a good portion of the run-time wondering aloud how we never noticed before that Robert De Niro looks so much like one of my grandpas.

The High Points

It’s pretty okay morally. Issues to be aware of include some language (IMDB parent’s guide says they used the F word 3 times, but I definitely missed them, so they must have been pretty inconspicuous uses…), some suggestive humor including a scene where it’s implied that a man is aroused; a vaguely implied premarital sexual encounter, and discussion of an extra-marital affair.

So, at least it’s not lame and dirty. Just lame.

Other high points: There’s one fun sequence where Robert De Niro and some young guys break into someone’s house to accomplish something that will kind of save the day for Anne Hathaway – it has very little to do with the rest of the plot but is at least kind of funny.

There is an insightful rant from Anne Hathaway’s character when she is tipsy about how there is so much focus in our society on empowering girls to be strong women, that helping boys grow into strong men is often overlooked. I couldn’t agree more. Unfortunately, the rant had literally nothing to do with the rest of the movie.

Beyond that… A promising and respectful view of elderly people’s worth in our society? The idea that old people can teach young people important stuff? All well and good, but I’m really stretching here to find the high points in this discombobulated mess of a meandering story. I just cannot fathom:

Why did people like this movie??

This question deserves two question marks, because I am just that baffled. I even looked it up on Rotten Tomatoes, hoping for vindication, hoping that the people I’d seen raving about it on Facebook were alone in their opinion. But no, it has a 61% Rotten Tomatoes score – not outstanding, but certainly more than it should have, in my opinion.

Overall

Skip it.

So many better ways to spend two hours. And certainly five dollars.

Disagree with my take? Let me know in the comments! Maybe you can shed some light on the matter for me…