the intern movie essay

“The Intern” by Nancy Meyers Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

Brief Synopsis

Aging-related concepts, scene selection.

The movie that is going to be reviewed within the framework of the current paper is called The Intern . This is a rather meaningful motion picture because it dwells on the life of an elderly man who tries to find his place within society and remain useful despite age and an overall decline in his functions. This is an emotional movie that brings out the best in the viewers and helps them understand the value that older people bring to the lives of those around them. Even though the director seems to romanticize the main characters of the story, the outcomes that are being shown at the end of the movie resonate with the audience and provide them with a deeper understanding of why we should pay more attention to the elderly population and their aspirations. It may not be easy for them to interact with the younger generations, but they will always possess that wisdom necessary to go through a variety of real-life situations undamaged and positively-minded. The Intern teaches us the lesson that no one should underestimate the elderly, even if they do not seem too fit for the modern age activities.

The main characters in the movie are Ben and Jules. Ben is a retired elderly man who has recently lost his wife. He rarely communicates with his son in order not to become a burden for his family and not draw all the attention to himself. Jules is the CEO of a quickly developing startup that organizes apparel delivery across the United States. She is married and has a daughter. Occasionally, Ben becomes a part of Jules’ company and gets the internship position as the CEO’s assistant. Even though Jules is not really happy with an elderly man becoming her Intern at first, she quickly becomes drawn to Ben due to his chivalrous behaviors, innate sense of humor, and positive attitude toward life. Together, Jules and Ben go through numerous challenges, and the CEO finally claims that her assistant is more than just an intern because Ben is her friend. Ben’s wisdom and understanding of life help Jules retain her position as the CEO of the company that she founded and even protect her marriage from a collapse.

The first concept that should be reviewed when analyzing the contents of The Intern is the presence of cognitive changes that Ben experiences, as he becomes a lone elderly man going through the challenges of retirement. Even though his attitude toward life does not change a bit, it is evident that life is not the same without his life partner. Ben does not have problems with memory or car driving, but his behavior shows that he became slower with time and did not multi-task in ways similar to his younger colleagues (Anderson & Craik, 2017). Overall, the main character of the story is a perfect representation of how an elderly person should be because Ben never quit searching for his true value regardless of how hard it was for him to move away from a close relationship with his son in order to let him leave without obstruction (Hartley et al., 2018). The movie portrays Ben as a slower individual in order to underline his age and draw the line between borderline compulsive lifestyle typical of the younger generation and a lenient approach that Ben takes in order to eradicate any kind of haste.

The second concept that has to be introduced when discussing Ben’s character in The Intern is his unique wisdom. Even though he has a lot of experience and could become a verbal source of multiple pieces of advice addressed to his younger colleagues, he generously chooses to teach them by example (Ardelt & Edwards, 2016). It happens so naturally that it may be claimed that Ben does not even exert any effort when affecting the ones around him. The concept of wisdom, in this case, refers to the fact that Ben never imposes his opinions on the younger coworkers and influences them with his kindness and humility. With a great deal of confidence, it may be concluded that Ben did not only become a friend to Jules but to other members of the team as well. Ben knows that his time may be limited, especially with health issues getting to him, so he does not waste time giving out verbal directions. Ben’s actions speak for themselves when it comes to bringing out the best in other people because he definitely knows how challenging it may be to find the true self and commit to it.

One of the key theories that may be applied to The Intern is the activity theory. It perfectly describes Ben because he is glad to complete any assignment and is never bothered by the fact that a task could be too easy, for example. It does not matter to him whether he is going to be the CEO’s assistant or a person bringing coffee to every other team member. As long as he feels that he is valued, he is going to continue to interact with colleagues and the remaining world (Woll & Bratteteig, 2018). The best part about this theory is that often such activities come back to the elderly person in the form of gratitude and warmness that an older person could receive in response to their willingness to remain an essential part of the society. Ben does not mean to interfere with the intraorganizational relationships and objectives, as his key task is to show others that he is still very much alive and is not going to give up easily despite numerous negative events that created a huge hole inside his soul.

Ben’s willingness to become an intern with a company that is located right where he worked for more than 20 years may also be associated with the continuity theory. Judging by his attitude toward everything around him, Ben does not want to disengage because he still has many internal resources to keep going and does not shy away from his chivalric behaviors. The fact that Ben is so old-school shows that he wants to maintain the integrity and is not going to replace his long-standing values with their modern alternatives. The inability of his younger colleagues to communicate surprises Ben because he never thought that digital communication would replace face-to-face talks. On the other hand, no one sees him as a real-life relic of the past because Ben commits to his integrity and never hesitates to learn something new despite knowing so much already. Ben’s continuity is in his willingness to help and remain a source of assistance because he knows that it might mean a lot for those who still have trouble recognizing their value (Woll & Bratteteig, 2018). The team loves Ben due to his integrity and a wholesome attitude that differentiates him from the other people who do not know how to communicate and make friends.

The scene that stands out the most for me is the closing scene of the movie, where Jules cannot find Ben while she also wants to tell him that she is not going to give up on her CEO position. Finally, she experiences a sense of relief when she sees him in the park practicing yoga with numerous other people of different races, genders, and ages. Jules wants to talk to Ben to break down the big news, but he invites her to the pitch and asks her to join him and practice yoga together. He even tells Jules that he does not want to know the news instantly, as he wants to enjoy his free time and relax, distancing himself from the everyday worries and challenges. The latter recurrently averted him from closing the inner gap that had opened wide when he lost his wife and distanced himself from his son’s family in order not to become too intrusive. Even though Jules definitely has not done anything like that in her lifetime (judging by her clumsy moves), she happily joins Ben and continues practicing yoga with her assistant as the credits start rolling.

This is a perfect ending for this movie because it shows how the wisdom of the elderly wins over the impulsiveness of the younger population. Older individuals are never in a hurry because they know that they will always have the time to think about what interests them the most and complete all the tasks they believe are relevant to them. The idea of elderly wisdom being an essential asset for humans is the red thread running through the niveous canvas of the movie plot. Even though Ben became rather sentimental over time (and he openly shares the truth with Jules), it does not make him less strong because he found himself in a position where he is everyone’s go-to uncle because he knows much more about life than his younger colleagues. Nevertheless, Ben displays his wisdom in this case as well because he never turns his back on the questions others ask and is always ready to help with whatever he can. The team was not ready for a retired person to come in and drive more sales and improve the company, but they embraced Ben’s wisdom and became able to generate positivity and overcome their personal challenges.

It would also be logical to associate the chosen scene with the concept of socio-emotional selectivity. In relation to the movie, it means that Ben became used to his role in society changing due to his age. He does not do everything as he could have been doing in the past due to the decline in physical capabilities, but his attitude toward the surroundings is what matters most (Woll & Bratteteig, 2018). Regardless of what he does for the company, he always comes out on top despite the fact that the CEO of the company and all other employees are much younger. Ben is not going to withdraw from such activities because they bring joy and make him feel useful again, especially given the fact that he became an intern for the company that is located within the same building as the business that he worked for when he was younger. All these emotional ties keep Ben together and make it easier for him to display his wisdom because he knows that these younger employees (and even the CEO) need him even if they do not express that verbally.

After watching The Intern , I have learned much more about why one should not be afraid to become old, as it also comes with numerous benefits that cannot be understood unless you become an elderly person. The application of different principles related to gerontology to this movie allowed me to realize that Ben is a perfect representation of how an elderly person should be: an individual who is not afraid to face challenges of any kind and help those in need, even if it is going to take time. The knowledge that the elderly possess cannot be ignored because it turns into wisdom with time, allowing them to look at a single situation from multiple perspectives. The Intern is a perfect example of a movie that does not only provide the audience with a chance to giggle, but it also touches upon the question of how truly important it is to embrace older persons and give them a chance to remain valuable even when they retire. Becoming friends with an elderly person is an opportunity to gain more insight into years of experience that transformed into wisdom and spiritual tranquility.

Anderson, N. D., & Craik, F. I. (2017). 50 years of cognitive aging theory. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B , 72 (1), 1-6.

Ardelt, M., & Edwards, C. A. (2016). Wisdom at the end of life: An analysis of mediating and moderating relations between wisdom and subjective well-being. Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences , 71 (3), 502-513.

Breheny, M., & Griffiths, Z. (2017). “I had a good time when I was young”: Interpreting descriptions of continuity among older people. Journal of Aging Studies , 41 , 36-43.

Hartley, A., Angel, L., Castel, A., Didierjean, A., Geraci, L., Hartley, J.,… & Taconnat, L. (2018). Successful aging: The role of cognitive gerontology. Experimental aging research , 44 (1), 82-93.

Woll, A., & Bratteteig, T. (2018). Activity theory as a framework to analyze technology-mediated elderly care. Mind, Culture, and Activity , 25 (1), 6-21.

• Romanticism in Seascape Painting by Jules Dupre
• Geriatrics: The 2018 Nursing Research Symposium
• “The Persuasion Knowledge Model” by Friestad & Wright
• ”The Big Clock” Dirrected by D.Meyer
• Gender Roles and Body Image in Disney Movies
• The Film "Night of the Living Dead" by George Romero
• Communication Elements in the Movie "Moonlight"
• Relationship Characteristics in Glee
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2022, September 26). "The Intern" by Nancy Meyers. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-intern-by-nancy-meyers/

""The Intern" by Nancy Meyers." IvyPanda , 26 Sept. 2022, ivypanda.com/essays/the-intern-by-nancy-meyers/.

IvyPanda . (2022) '"The Intern" by Nancy Meyers'. 26 September.

IvyPanda . 2022. ""The Intern" by Nancy Meyers." September 26, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-intern-by-nancy-meyers/.

1. IvyPanda . ""The Intern" by Nancy Meyers." September 26, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-intern-by-nancy-meyers/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . ""The Intern" by Nancy Meyers." September 26, 2022. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-intern-by-nancy-meyers/.

Movie Reviews

Tv/streaming, great movies, chaz's journal, contributors, black writers week.

Now streaming on:

There’s something really soothing about a Nancy Meyers movie. Everything looks so good ; both polished and cozy. It’s not just the real estate porn, which had its most blatant manifestation in the Hamptons beach house featured in Meyers’ ageism-juggling 2003 rom-com “Something’s Gotta Give.” It’s also the furnishings, like the rotating tie rack in the bedroom of the brownstone owned by Robert De Niro ’s retired businessman in her latest, "The Intern." It’s how all the surfaces gleam: “The Intern” was shot at locations mostly within walking distance of where I actually live, and while it is a very blessed part of Brooklyn, its windows are not normally quite as uniformly shiny as those of the buildings seen here.

And often this soothing quality serves as a distraction from how inane and uncomfortable a movie such as “Something’s Gotta Give” can be. But here’s the thing: “The Intern,” while having its share of silly moments, is the most genuinely enjoyable and likable movie that Meyers—a longtime writer and producer before taking up directing—has put her name to since, oh, I don’t know, 1984’s “ Irreconcilable Differences .” 

De Niro has the title role here, as he did in “ Taxi Driver ” and “ Raging Bull ” and even “ The King of Comedy .” His character’s name is Ben Whittaker, and he’s a retired, well-off widower in Brooklyn who’s bored with the relative inactivity of his current, pleasant mode of living. So he applies for a position in a “Senior Intern Program” at an e-commerce concern called “About The Fit,” and winds up reporting to its founder, Jules, an exemplary, for Meyers, 21 st Century entrepreneur type; not too far beneath her sunny exterior—she IS played by Anne Hathaway , after all—is a highly driven and possibly blinkered go-getter.

De Niro’s character here is one that he pretty much never played during what many consider his acting heyday: a decent, straightforward, non-neurotic regular guy who’s gotten somewhere good in life. And in this movie, he plays it rather well. There’s something slightly Woody Allenesque about his opening scene, in which he constructs a job-application video. His role calls for him to do a certain amount of mugging as he interacts with younger colleagues and learns about the Weird Things These Kids Today Do With Their Relationships And The Internet and such. Thankfully, the movie doesn’t dwell on senior-citizen bemusement with the Digital Age all too much; one of the points of De Niro’s character is that he’s alert and competent and wants to be of service. He has a hard time being of service to Jules, whose relentless focus makes her immediately distrustful of anyone who has an insight as to how she conceives and runs her business. And the movie is rather good at the details of that business, and the way that Jules’ vision for it defines its practical particulars.

But Ben manages to get into Jules’ good graces partly via patriarchal stealth, as when he confronts Jules’ driver after seeing him take a few nips out of a paper bag right before the soon-to-be-ex-employee is supposed to take her to a meeting in Manhattan. Ben’s internship happens to coincide with a challenging period in the growth of Jules’ company; Jules’ aide-de-camp Cameron (a very understated Andrew Rannells ) brings her the unusual news that the company’s investors, while delighted with its success, would like to bring an outside CEO to the company. Jules dutifully interviews prospects even as she’s dizzied by the idea that she could be effectively ousted from her own creation. In the meantime, her home life—she has a too-milquetoasty-to-be-a-bro-dad husband ( Anders Holm ) and a predictably delightful and adorable young daughter (JoJo Kushner)—is taking the standard can-a-career-woman-have-it-all hits. And at least one hit that’s not so standard, or maybe I should say, not so easy to stand.

Through all of this Ben maintains a careful, empathetic watch—early in their relationship, Jules pinpoints her discomfort with him as arising because he’s too “observant”—and when he steps in to offer help, he does so in a discreetly chivalrous way that actually runs counter to any “here comes daddy to save the day” expectations. Ben, as it happens, genuinely admires Jules—looks up to her, you might say—and when he does bring his experience as a businessman to bear on Jules’ own enterprise, it’s in the spirit of sharing knowledge rather than that of correction. When push comes to shove, Ben offers Jules the assurance that the thing to do is be tough and go after what you want.

The adages of “The Intern” are delivered in a comedy package that, for the most part, is sane, sweet, and smart, and a lot of the time, actually funny. A budding romance between Ben and the company’s in-house masseuse ( Rene Russo ) is fodder for two groan-inducing visual gags. But a silly set piece in which Ben enlists some of the younger goofballs of About The Fit on a housebreaking mission, replete with latter-day “Ocean’s Eleven” references, is actually a tolerable bit of rompage. And everyone in the cast, including Hathaway, who, for the record, I have never not liked, is extremely appealing. “What have you done with my husband?” my wife asked me the other night when I came home and told her I’d had a genuinely good time watching a Nancy Meyers movie. What could I say? You’re never too old to keep an open mind. 

Glenn Kenny

Glenn Kenny was the chief film critic of Premiere magazine for almost half of its existence. He has written for a host of other publications and resides in Brooklyn. Read his answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .

Now playing

Trigger Warning

Robert daniels.

The Dead Don't Hurt

Matt zoller seitz.

Diane von Furstenberg: Woman in Charge

Nandini balial.

This Closeness

In a Violent Nature

Clint worthington.

Film Credits

The Intern (2015)

Rated PG-13 for some suggestive content and brief strong language

121 minutes

Robert De Niro as Ben Whittaker

Anne Hathaway as Jules Ostin

Rene Russo as Fiona

Adam DeVine as Jason

Anders Holm as Matt

• Nancy Meyers

Director of Photography

• Stephen Goldblatt

Latest blog posts

Leaving A Mark Behind: Kevin Costner on Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1

The Hard Way, Or My Way? RIP Bill Cobbs (1934-2024)

Catherine Breillat Wants You to Think About (Movie) Sex Differently

Sundance x Chicago Brings Film's Premier Festival to the Windy City

Film Review: ‘The Intern’

Nancy Meyers' smug workplace fable needs every ounce of Anne Hathaway and Robert De Niro's combined star quality.

By Guy Lodge

Film Critic

• ‘Julie Keeps Quiet’ Review: A Tight, Poised Belgian Debut About the Challenges of Holding It Together 2 weeks ago
• ‘Elementary’ Review: French Docmaker Claire Simon Returns to the Schoolroom With Endearing Results 4 weeks ago
• ‘To Live, to Die, to Live Again’ Review: Gaël Morel’s ’90s-Set AIDS Drama Seems a Throwback Before Pointing to a Brighter Future 4 weeks ago

Behind at least one successful woman stands an older, wiser man. That, at least, is the chief takeaway from “ The Intern ,” a perky generation-gap fable that sneaks some surprisingly conservative gender politics into its stainless new world of online startups and amply product-placed Macbooks. Starring Robert De Niro as the tirelessly benevolent retiree who becomes fashion entrepreneur Anne Hathaway ‘s unlikely guide to work-life equilibrium, this is smooth white-linen entertainment, unmistakably of a piece with the plush oeuvre of writer-director Nancy Meyers . Yet it takes all the leads’ considerable combined charm to forestall the aftertaste of the pic’s smug life lessons and near-comically blinkered worldview. Supplanting the romantic fizz of “It’s Complicated” and “Something’s Gotta Give” with scarf-deep social engagement may cost Meyers’ latest a little at the box office, but this “Intern” will still be reasonably well-paid by an under-served date-night crowd.

Related Stories

Regulators shouldn’t blow the whistle on venu sports just yet, 'the boys' co-creator says film trilogy version from adam mckay got axed in pre-mcu hollywood, first movie was fully written: it was 'really cool stuff'.

“Love and work, work and love, that’s all there is,” intones 70-year-old widower Ben Whittaker (De Niro) in the film’s opening voiceover — vaguely quoting Freud, but pinpointing the extended concerns of Meyers’ screenplay with ruthless accuracy. (An hour later, one character will suggest changing the subject in a work-focused conversation. “Marriage?” another eagerly suggests. These are the options.) Marital stability and professional achievement are the two objectives by which “The Intern” defines its characters and narrative alike, at the expense of any deeper personal or cultural interests; when Ben tells a date that he can summarize himself in 10 seconds, the script gives us little reason to doubt him.

Popular on Variety

For Hathaway’s heavily burdened career woman Jules Ostin, on the other hand, even 10 seconds of self-description is time she can ill afford to spare. The founder and president of About the Fit, a Brooklyn-based online couture retailer in the mold of Net-a-Porter, she’s a Type A micromanager who has trouble leaving even customer service calls in the hands of her eminently capable employees. When her patient deputy (Andrew Rannells) announces that she’s to be assigned an assistant via the company’s newly-introduced senior intern program, she takes it as a personal affront.

Enter Ben, whose affability and helpfulness are as consistent as the square charcoal business suits he wears every day. After trying out a host of hobbies and adult education courses to stave off the loneliness of spouseless retirement, the former telephone-directory manufacturer (a pointedly analog career path) has come back around to the workplace: Tai chi classes are all very well, but can’t verily be classified as either work or love. Hoping for a new lease on life from the fiercely young, hip surrounds of About the Fit, he arrives with rolled-up sleeves and a can-do attitude — only to be brusquely ignored by Jules, more frazzled than ever following pressure from investors to hire a senior male CEO for the company.

By this point, it can’t have escaped viewers’ attention that Meyers has fashioned “The Intern” as something of a generational backflip on “The Devil Wears Prada,” with the cannily cast Hathaway having graduated to the role of corporate fashion dragon. (She’s even permitted, in a witty touch, to toss her jacket at Ben in the blasé manner of Meryl Streep’s Miranda Priestley.) The difference, of course, is that Jules hasn’t quite Priestley’s time-hardened unflappability, while De Niro is no hapless naif a la Andie Sachs: The balance of authority between them is awkward from the get-go, as Jules complains that her well-seasoned intern is “too observant.”

The turning point, as in “Prada,” is when home-work boundaries are crossed. Ben steps in for Jules’ personal chauffeur (her on-trend preference for cycling, cited in introductory scenes, is inexplicably forgotten), getting to know her young daughter Paige (JoJo Kushner) and affable stay-at-home husband Matt (deftly played by Anders Holm) in the process. Yet as Jules’ marriage, rather than any workplace dilemmas, becomes the focus of the drama, “The Intern’s” superficially 21st-century outlook on age and gender takes on a more regressively paternalistic slant. Jules asserts that she can have it all, but she requires an awful lot of mentoring from Ben — whose professional and marital history is, at least as he tells it, wholly unblemished — to get to that point. There’s not a lot of inter-generational exchange here, as Ben arrives in the narrative with little to learn; beyond helping him set up a Facebook page, Jules doesn’t get to impart much perspective of her own.

Before long, Ben’s even monitoring her drinking with raised eyebrows: She may come to call him her “best friend” (largely because there’s scant evidence of any others), but the subtext is that it’s hard for a woman in her position to find support among her own. Certainly, the film’s other female characters do little for its feminist credentials: Jules’ fellow kindergarten moms are characterized as spiteful housewives, while her mother (heard, never seen) is a passive-aggressive needler. The great Celia Weston is egregiously wasted as a dippy elder intern, while as the frisky office masseuse — this is a Nancy Meyers film, after all — who embarks on a staid courtship with Ben, fellow “oldie-but-goodie” Rene Russo has little to do but twinkle kindly from the sidelines. (She’s over a decade younger than De Niro, but “oldie” status comes early in this world.)

If older women get short shrift, then, their male counterparts are praised to the skies. Hathaway even gets to deliver a wince-worthy sermon to Jules’ cardigan-wearing twentysomething male employees — themselves equally in thrall to Ben — bemoaning the decline of masculinity and decorum in modern men. Jack Nicholson and Harrison Ford (not to mention, by implication, De Niro himself), by contrast, are held up as superior role models of “cool.” This is pretty retrograde stuff, and hardly plausible coming from Jules given her own husband’s enlightened decision to give up his career for hers — not exactly a maneuver from the Jack Nicholson playbook.

At least there’s a genuine crackle of chemistry between Hathaway and De Niro to sell us on their characters’ mutual appreciation: Both actors can perform this kind of personality-led comedy on cue, but also tease out unscripted hints of inner conflict when so inclined. Hathaway does particularly well in a role that frequently draws direct attention to its own unlikeability: Both the steelier and more genial sides of the actress’s signature class-captain charisma play persuasively into her business persona.

Meyers’ detractors often cite her films’ narrow focus on a moneyed sliver of society, and true to form, the story world in “The Intern” could hardly be more homogeneous: For a film set predominantly in Brooklyn, the racial uniformity of the ensemble is regrettably striking. (Ben admits early on that he took Mandarin classes for a stretch; in Meyers’ vision of the Big Apple, it’s hard to imagine what use he might have for them.) Though the pic is brightly shot by Stephen Goldblatt and scored with chipper deodorant-ad zeal by Theodore Shapiro, it’s Kristi Zea’s impeccable production design that again proves the most defining technical element of Meyers’ filmmaking. From the sharp white corners of About the Fit’s warehouse-conversion offices to the ivory calico textures of Jules’ gorgeously refurbished brownstone, all “The Intern’s” interiors radiate a most exclusive kind of expense.

Reviewed at Warner Bros. screening room, London, Sept. 15, 2015. MPAA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 121 MIN.

• Production: A Warner Bros. Pictures presentation of a Waverly Films production. Produced by Nancy Meyers, Suzanne Farwell. Executive producer, Celia Costas. Co-producers, Jeffrey J.P. Wetzel, Deb Dyer.
• Crew: Directed, written by Nancy Meyers. Camera (color, Arri Alexa HD), Stephen Goldblatt; editor, Robert Leighton; music, Theodore Shapiro; music supervisors, Randall Poster, George Drakoulias; production designer, Kristi Zea; art director, Doug Huszti; set decorator, Susan Bode-Tyson; costume designers, Jacqueline Oknaian, Aude Bronson-Howard; sound (Dolby Digital), Danny Michael; supervising sound editors, Dennis Drummond, Sean Massey; re-recording mixers, Greg Orloff, Tateum Kohut; visual effects supervisors, Bruce Jones, Mark Russell, Hameed Shaukat; visual effects, Shade VFX, Rodeo VFX; stunt coordinator, Victor Paguia; associate producers, Stefan Metz, Christin Mizelle; assistant director, Jeffrey J.P. Wetzel; second unit directors, Alex Hillkurtz, Bruce Jones, G.A. Aguilar; casting, Laray Mayfield.
• With: Robert De Niro, Anne Hathaway, Anders Holm, Rene Russo, Zack Pearlman, Adam DeVine, Andrew Rannells, Christina Scherer, JoJo Kushner, Celia Weston, Nat Wolff, Linda Lavin, C.J. Wilson.

More from Variety

Mediawan kids & family unveils feature projects by louis clichy, lino disalvo at annecy (exclusive), pixar key to hdr cinema expansion, shanghai film festival: malaysian animation ‘extinction’ inks first rights deals (exclusive), gaumont ramps up animation division with creative director role for sebastien rossi; new slate of shows (exclusive), ‘inside out 2’ director says film’s focus on puberty and anxiety is ‘incredibly brave and bold’, more from our brands, martin mull, comedian and actor of ‘clue’ and ‘arrested development,’ dead at 80, yolanda hadid’s former malibu mansion just hit the market for $35 million, macklin celebrini chosen first by san jose sharks in 2024 nhl draft, the best loofahs and body scrubbers, according to dermatologists, the chi season 6 finale marks three big cast exits (and two major deaths) — hear from one of the recently departed, verify it's you, please log in.

“The Intern” by Nancy Meyers

Introduction, main issues, depiction vs. reality, ambiguities and alternative interpretations.

The importance of employment, a desire to work, a threat of retirement, the development of professional qualities, and interpersonal relationships are the issues that bother millions of modern people. To share their opinions and visions, movie directors find it interesting and necessary to discuss these themes in their works. In 2015, Nancy Meyers introduced The Intern , a comedy, starring Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway. The uniqueness of this film is an excellent possibility to explain the importance of work-life balance and generation differences that many people like to neglect. There are many reasons for watching and analyzing The Intern , and this paper aims at comparing the depiction and reality of employment and organizational culture in American society.

In The Intern , it is hard to choose just several issues that are properly addressed there, either directly or indirectly. On the one hand, it is clear that the director’s intention is to explain human feelings and experiences during the retirement phase. The main character is a 70-year-old widower who knows that “there is a hole in my life, and I need to fill it… soon” ( The Intern). Unintentionally, this movie shows how senseless the intentions of all those people who dream of working hard and providing themselves with successful retirement conditions could be. Among other indirect aspects like the life of seniors, loneliness, and personal growth, Meyers perfectly raises such topics as job search, leadership, and the exchange of experiences. At the same time, she also focuses on the presence of gender inequalities in business affairs. One of the most provocative goals of this film is to keep to work-life balance and never consider age as a challenge or shortage. The desire to be a part of something, keep moving, and live, no matter what direction is chosen.

Someone may think that the depiction of The Intern differs from reality. As a rule, people who have been working hard all their lives want to take some rest after their 70s. Every individual is unique, and this movie aligns with reality where older adults never want to give up, still, understanding that young people are in need of job opportunities and education. As well as another main character of the movie, Jules Ostin, many young entrepreneurs are eager to start a business and develop success. However, the reality is harsh to all people, and women’s challenges are not an exception. Therefore, the movie teaches to “feel nothing but great about what you’ve done, and I’d hate to see you let anyone take that away from you” ( The Intern ). Although it seems that the director wants to criticize reality, where a woman has to choose between her job and family or leadership and delegation, this film supports the idea of work-life balance that usually depends on people around.

One of the most favorable features of this movie is the lack of evident ambiguities. Although some young spectators could say that their interests are usually more diversified compared to those young men who could easily register on Facebook, but know nothing about the importance of an extra handkerchief in their pocket. After watching the movie, no other alternative interpretations could be offered because Meyers did the best in her attempt to disclose employer-employee relationships, family issues, and business picks. Ostin realizes that regarding her past achievements, she could do more either in her family or in her company. All she needs at the moment is peace, which makes her join Ben and relax.

In general, it is possible to talk about a variety of topics that are properly mentioned in The Intern , either intentionally or incidentally. Meyers did a great work that could motivate a young entrepreneur, a non-confident admirer, or an older adult who has just lost a beloved person. This movie is a story about generations and how people should change not to become successful or rich but happy and fulfilled in life.

The Intern . Directed by Nancy Meyers, performance by Robert De Niro and Ann Hathaway, Warner Bros. Pictures, 2015.

Cite this paper

• Chicago (N-B)
• Chicago (A-D)

StudyCorgi. (2022, April 18). “The Intern” by Nancy Meyers. https://studycorgi.com/the-intern-by-nancy-meyers/

"“The Intern” by Nancy Meyers." StudyCorgi , 18 Apr. 2022, studycorgi.com/the-intern-by-nancy-meyers/.

StudyCorgi . (2022) '“The Intern” by Nancy Meyers'. 18 April.

1. StudyCorgi . "“The Intern” by Nancy Meyers." April 18, 2022. https://studycorgi.com/the-intern-by-nancy-meyers/.

Bibliography

StudyCorgi . "“The Intern” by Nancy Meyers." April 18, 2022. https://studycorgi.com/the-intern-by-nancy-meyers/.

StudyCorgi . 2022. "“The Intern” by Nancy Meyers." April 18, 2022. https://studycorgi.com/the-intern-by-nancy-meyers/.

This paper, ““The Intern” by Nancy Meyers”, was written and voluntary submitted to our free essay database by a straight-A student. Please ensure you properly reference the paper if you're using it to write your assignment.

Before publication, the StudyCorgi editorial team proofread and checked the paper to make sure it meets the highest standards in terms of grammar, punctuation, style, fact accuracy, copyright issues, and inclusive language. Last updated: August 2, 2022 .

If you are the author of this paper and no longer wish to have it published on StudyCorgi, request the removal . Please use the “ Donate your paper ” form to submit an essay.

Review: How ‘The Intern’ Became One of My Favorite Movies of the Year

The Intern was directed and written by Nancy Meyers, and it stars Robert De Niro, Anne Hathaway, Rene Russo, and a host of other actors you’ll probably recognize. De Niro plays Ben Whittaker, a 70-year-old man in retirement who applies to become a “senior” intern at an online fashion company in New York. He’s assigned to the young and perpetually busy CEO, Jules Ostin, who is played by Anne Hathaway.

Watching the trailers for this, I had low expectations for  The Intern . From the outset, it looks like another phoned in De Niro movie devoid of a good story and interesting characters. And to be fair, I’ve never gravitated toward the work of Nancy Meyers, who wrote and directed  Something’s Gotta Give  and  It’s Complicated .

They aren’t terrible movies (well, besides  It’s Complicated ), but I had a hard time connecting with the older characters in these movies. Jack Nicholson was fine in Something’s Gotta Give , but he didn’t strike me as someone I actually knew in real life going through what he goes through.

In other words, these movies just aren’t that relatable.

With  The Intern , Meyers has finally delivered a film that gives the audience something endearing to grab onto, no matter your age. This movie is downright charming and pleasant to watch. It’s funny, even though it doesn’t really need to be.

And best of all, the characters in this film have something a lot of 2015 movies have been severely lacking in my opinion: effortless chemistry .

Like this year’s  Paddington , these characters come to life best when they’re interacting with each other. Hathaway and De Niro, in particular, fire on all cylinders as two unlikely friends who prove that a movie about platonic relationships can be incredibly interesting.

At one point in the movie, Jules refers to the effect that Ben has on her, citing that she feels calm around him. That’s pretty much how I felt about this movie. It really is the first feel-good film of 2015 that  over-delivers on that description.

The Intern  isn’t perfect, of course. Some of the laughs are a little screwball, and it suffers almost too much from its sunny vibe and lack of compelling drama (though there’s still plenty in the third act). But this otherwise ho-hum source material is elevated by the believable chemistry of these characters and Meyers’ knack for building memorable atmosphere (she almost makes Brooklyn feel like a small town).

My favorite scene, which I won’t spoil, happens near the end of the movie and involves both of these characters in a very vulnerable state. It’s drawn out on purpose because at the end of it, you see the true emotions coming from one of these characters in a way that hits you in the gut. It’s excellent storytelling that is owed in part to Meyers’ ability to extract honest performances from these seasoned actors.

Some critics will bemoan the lack of diversity or insertion of more relevant social issues. Personally, I think it was for the best that The Intern  shied away from these topics because we’re already getting droves of more serious films this fall that address racial politics, transgender rights, and so on.  The Intern  is a self-contained commentary on what it means to work hard and collect worthwhile experience, even if it is a little fantastical at times. That’s all The Intern  needed to be in order to make my day after watching it.

It’s one of my favorite films of the year so far, not because it has a lot to say, but because it does an excellent job saying it. If you’re looking for a movie that will offer a quick escape that will stick with you after watching it, then I can’t recommend this one enough.

If you’ve seen  The Intern , let me know what you think in the comments, and be sure to listen to this Sunday’s podcast, where we’ll talk about the movie in more detail.

I’m Jon and thanks for reading this. You can subscribe to my posts by clicking “Follow” in the right sidebar. Or just say hey on Twitter!  @JonNegroni

Share this:

• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
• Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
• Click to print (Opens in new window)

7 thoughts on “ Review: How ‘The Intern’ Became One of My Favorite Movies of the Year ”

I caught the midnight showing for this and agree wholeheartedly with the review. It seems like most critics didn’t care much for this movie, and it’s a damn shame. I think they went into it ready to hate on Nancy Meyers and especially De Niro. But my wife and I saw this and LOVED IT. It was everything I wanted from, like you said, an escapist fall movie. I give it an A+ but that’s just me.

I saw the trailer and thought it looked like a really sweet movie. Glad to see you enjoyed it as well! Looks like I may be making a trip out to see this one. 🙂

Awesome! Now do one about Hotel Transylvania 2 and compare both movies and predict who would win the weekend, The Intern or Hotel Transylvania 2.

More often than not I agree with your observations, and so greatly look forward to actually paying to see the Intern at a theatre! We usually await each movie’s appearance on cable (except for all LoR, HP, Narnia, and some Wes Anderson), and really don’t mind, but this sounds like one to watch on the big screen. Thank you!!!

Nice review! I’m looking forward to seeing this movie.

I saw it last night and loved it. Robert De Niro is charming and a true gentleman and I agree that the chemistry between him and Hathaway is effortless. Loved the jokes and the almost father-daughter or mentor-mentee connection between De Niro and Hathaway. Weirdly enough, I kept fantasising about how great it would be to grow a website and make it a full-time venture! Will defs be adding this to the Blu Ray collection!

You sold me; ok, I’m Redboxing this tonight.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Discover more from jon negroni.

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Type your email…

Continue reading

The Regal Writer

Tips and ideas for getting the most out of your writing experience

Movie Review: “The Intern” Teaches Workplace Communication The Old-Fashioned Way

It used to be that men carried a clean handkerchief with them for those rare occasions when they needed to blow their nose, or as Robert DeNiro’s character Ben Whitaker suggests in “The Intern,”   hand it to a woman in distress. “Women cry,” he explains to a young male co-worker at About The Fit, a clothing e-commerce business where they work. “You need to be ready to give them your handkerchief. That’s the only reason we carry it.”

In a later scene, when the object of the young co-worker’s affection cries, fretting about her future with the company, he rushes to her side and hands her a handkerchief (conveniently provided by Whitaker who happens to be standing by).

In today’s fast-paced business environment where Twitter and texting are today’s communications tools of choice, sharing a handkerchief seems quaint. But perhaps DeNiro’s character knows something many of his younger co-workers haven’t learned. You can communicate a lot more with a simple gesture – a hug, a smile, a hand on a shoulder or passing along a clean handkerchief – than you can with any mobile device or social media message. The fact is, exchanging words in an email or text message might be the standard of the day, but they are only tools of the trade. What do they really communicate? What we might have gained in efficiency in our communications via our mobile devices, in the process, have we lost the personal connection and compassion that our relationships need to thrive?

Whitaker was a master at observance. He learned more about his workmates just by watching their behavior and listening to their conversations. Whitaker’s calm and cheerful outlook did not go unnoticed by his boss, Jules Ostin (played by Anne Hathaway), who wanted to transfer him to another department because she was uncomfortable with him around and didn’t believe she needed his services. He was, in Jules words, “too observant.”

How much more can we learn from our colleagues and clients if, like Ben Whitaker, we simply kept our mouths shut and observed what is happening around us. Whitaker may not have been Facebook-savvy, but he understood more about how to communicate with compassion and maturity.  He noticed when Jules was struggling in her marriage without interfering, though he might have been tempted. And he refused to judge others for their behavioral indiscretions and refrained from expressing his opinion, allowing others to learn from their own mistakes. He was adept at reading people’s emotions, and that’s a lost art.

What I appreciated most about this film, though not a movie classic by any means, was that the younger co-workers eventually accepted Whitaker and all his apparent eccentricities. They learned more from him than they were willing to admit, including the co-worker who was so intrigued by Whitaker’s old battered briefcase that he bought one for himself on Ebay.

These are communications lessons we all can learn, no matter how old or young we are.

Share this:

• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
• Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
• Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
• Click to print (Opens in new window)

Published by The Regal Writer

Business writer, editor, blogger and communications consultant seeking to help people find their writing voice and tell their personal stories. View all posts by The Regal Writer

Leave a comment Cancel reply

• Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
• Subscribe Subscribed
• Copy shortlink
• Report this content
• View post in Reader
• Manage subscriptions
• Collapse this bar

Review: 'The Intern' has great start and finish, forgettable middle

• September 25, 2015
• Wyatt Crosher

“The Intern” is written and directed by Nancy Meyers and stars Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway. The movie is about a 70-year-old man named Ben Whittaker (De Niro) who finds an opportunity to be an intern at an online fashion site that is run by the incredibly busy Jules Ostin (Hathaway).

This movie had me intrigued, mainly due to the star power. De Niro and Hathaway have shown their incredible acting abilities time and time again, so I figured this was a guaranteed hit. Sometimes I like to be wrong, but this was not one of those times.

The majority of the performances work, specifically De Niro’s. He has taken some poor jobs as of late which have tarnished his astonishing career, but this is not one of those roles. His performance is touching and sweet, as his character gives us a solid backbone to start off with. Rene Russo is also very good in her supporting role, and Hathaway’s performance began to grow on me as the movie progressed. At first I was completely annoyed, but as the layers began to unravel, I liked her character more and more.

The movie’s opening scene, as well as the last thirty minutes of the film, are truly great. The opening is very touching and gives a wonderful introduction to the main character. The final act is also very heartfelt. It has the best storytelling and the best performances of the entire movie, so I don’t know what the hell happened in this middle portion.

From five minutes to about 90 minutes into the movie, the director decided to make this film an extended TV sitcom, with jokes that wouldn’t even make a 6 p.m. CBS special. The jokes are hokey and the script is down right embarrassing, with blatantly obvious conveniences to show how De Niro’s character is such a nice guy. For example, a random desk just happens to be the company junkyard that is overflowing with stuff, so the next morning De Niro does what any good person would do and clean the desk without being asked. It may not sound like a big deal but things like that happened so often that I found myself rolling my eyes constantly. Also, the three stooges that De Niro works with are just not funny. They could be taken completely out and the viewer wouldn’t bat an eye.

I’m not saying this movie needed to be wry of humor. But the dramatic heft and interesting characters made for a much better storyline than the majority of the time when the movie acts like the worst possible episode of “Two and a Half Men” that you can think of (including the Ashton Kutcher era).

This movie also pushes a runtime of over two hours, which is ridiculous knowing some of the dumb jokes and plot points they decided to keep in.

Overall, “The Intern” has solid performances, an interesting premise and a fantastic opening scene as well as a great, somewhat moving conclusion. The problem lies with the entire middle, which feels poorly written, badly unfunny and completely out of place. This movie should not have been a comedy. It should have been a drama with comedy sprinkled in.

It is rare that about 30 percent of a film is great and 70 percent of it is absolutely awful, but that is how I feel about “The Intern.” I suggest watching the opening, going to do something better with your life for about an hour and then coming back for the conclusion.

“The Intern” is a sad disappointment.

Related Posts

Football: Buckeyes land four recruits in the past week for 2025 class

Baseball: ohio state signs justin haire to a five-year deal to become new head coach, this year’s comfest performances to spotlight columbus’ multigenerational music scene.

Ohio State’s Urban Arts Space to celebrate Afrofuturism through two exhibitions, panel and artist commune this weekend

Lsac to remove the logic games section from lsat following lawsuit settlement, men’s golf: ohio state graduate neal shipley earns low amateur honors at 2024 u.s. open, joins legendary company with win.

Movie review: “The Bikeriders” revs up in the race for 2024’s most underrated movie

Men’s basketball: taison chatman suffers knee injury, will miss 2024-25 season, lt. colonel michael kelvington removed from ohio state army rotc post, replaced by lt. colonel steven spiker in light of ongoing title ix investigation.

24/7 writing help on your phone

To install StudyMoose App tap and then “Add to Home Screen”

The Intern Movie Review

Save to my list

Remove from my list

Overview of "The Intern"

Brief summary of the storyline and context.

• Jules Ostin - Anne Hathaway Ben Whittaker- Robert De Niro
• Fiona - Rene Russo Jason- Adam DeVine
• Matt- Anders Holm Paige - JoJo Kushner
• Davis - Zack Pearlman Cameron- Andre Rannells
• Becky- Christina Scherer

Central Point of the film

Evaluation of management and leadership, evaluation of creative thinking and problem solving, problem solving techniques, evaluation of conflict management, functional conflict vs dysfunctional conflict, dispute resolution mechanisms.

• Accommodating: One party will backdown, giving into the demands of another.
• Avoiding: The manager withdraws from the conflict.
• Cooperating/collaborating: Parties work together to find a common ground.
• Competing: There is a winning side, assertiveness is displayed.

Internal conflict

Conflict external to the work environment, conflict in the workplace, third party interventions, 5 reasons why "the intern" is relevant to the work covered in grade 12 business studies:, reference list.

• Dictionary.com. (2019). Dictionary.com Is the World's Favorite Online Dictionary. [online] Available at: [Accessed 9 Jul. 2019].
• IMDb. (2019). The Intern (2015) - IMDb. [online] Available at: [Accessed 8 Jul. 2019].
• Linkedin.com. (2019). 3 WAYS TO RESOLVE INTERNAL CONFLICT. [online] Available at: [Accessed 10 Jul. 2019].
• Meyers, E. and Strydom, Z. (2018). Business Studies Grade 12 learner's book. 3rd ed. Consumo publishers.
• TPC -. (2016). 5 Conflict Resolution Strategies We All Use. [online] Available at: [Accessed 10 Jul. 2019].
• The Intern. (2015). [DVD] Directed by N. Meyers. Brooklyn, NYC: Warner Bros.

Similar topics:

The Intern Movie Review. (2019, Nov 29). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/movie-review-the-internkatya-berimbau-this-project-will-entail-example-essay

"The Intern Movie Review." StudyMoose , 29 Nov 2019, https://studymoose.com/movie-review-the-internkatya-berimbau-this-project-will-entail-example-essay

StudyMoose. (2019). The Intern Movie Review . [Online]. Available at: https://studymoose.com/movie-review-the-internkatya-berimbau-this-project-will-entail-example-essay [Accessed: 29 Jun. 2024]

"The Intern Movie Review." StudyMoose, Nov 29, 2019. Accessed June 29, 2024. https://studymoose.com/movie-review-the-internkatya-berimbau-this-project-will-entail-example-essay

"The Intern Movie Review," StudyMoose , 29-Nov-2019. [Online]. Available: https://studymoose.com/movie-review-the-internkatya-berimbau-this-project-will-entail-example-essay. [Accessed: 29-Jun-2024]

StudyMoose. (2019). The Intern Movie Review . [Online]. Available at: https://studymoose.com/movie-review-the-internkatya-berimbau-this-project-will-entail-example-essay [Accessed: 29-Jun-2024]

• Learning as a Student Intern Pages: 4 (1128 words)
• Great Experience as an Intern Pages: 8 (2270 words)
• Navigating the Media Industry: Insights from an Advertising Intern Pages: 3 (836 words)
• Working as an Intern for the Committee to Elect Judge Fred Bates to the Cook County Circuit Court Pages: 12 (3339 words)
• My Experience as an Digital Marketing Intern Pages: 5 (1230 words)
• My Experience As Project Management Intern Pages: 2 (508 words)
• Overview Of The Case Study an Intern's Dilemma Pages: 2 (413 words)
• My Intern Experience: A Reflection Pages: 3 (697 words)
• Final Essay Movie Her I really liked the movie when I Pages: 2 (574 words)
• Analysis of the Money Ball Movie: Cues for Better Financial Management in the Movie Pages: 3 (759 words)

👋 Hi! I’m your smart assistant Amy!

Don’t know where to start? Type your requirements and I’ll connect you to an academic expert within 3 minutes.

Movie Review – The Intern – Writing in English

• Movie Review

No Comments

Hey guys, how are you doing?

Another movie review post for you guys! But before I tell you about the movie, how about learning some important vocabulary you must  use on movie reviews?

There are many different kinds of words, verbs, adverbs, expressions, idioms, phrasal verbs, you can use on your essay. For this post, I picked a specific one. Let’s talk about adverbs .

Adverbs will basically modify “verbs”. They emphasize the action. For example:

The movie was good. (no adverb)

The movie was REALLY good! (here I am emphasizing with the adverb “ really” )

He broke the window (no adverb, I am just describing what happened).

He intentionally broke the window (the adverb intentionally emphasizes the action by showing that the person who broke the window, had intentions to do so.

You might already know how adverbs work. The catch is to use collocations correctly. Depending on the verb we may or not use certain adverbs. That’s what I want to share with you before showing you the movie review.  I will show 7  good adverbs and their verbs that you can in movie reviews and that will definitely make your movie review nicer! So here we go

1. Rely heavily on somebody or something = to depend greatly on someone.

NGOS rely heavily on donations in order to finance their projects.

2. To be hysterically funny = to describe something that is very funny.

Her acting was hysterically funny in the new Broadway show called Shear Madness.

3. Apologize profusely = to apologize a lot  (to say sorry “a lot”)

The CEO apologized profusely to all families who lost their loved ones in the accident.

4. Bitterly disappointed = to be very disappointed.

I was bitterly disappointed after watching this movie.

5. Highly recommend = greatly recommend, recommend something very much.

I highly recommend this movie. It is exciting, fun and the plot is very interesting

6. Connect deeply =  to have a strong connection

They connected deeply since day one

7. Listen patiently = to listen in a patient way.

Parents need to listen to their kids more patiently.

Now let’s take a look at the movie review. This movie review is simpler, intermediate speakers will have no problem to understand it! But if you are an intermediate speaker, let me know what you thought about it, ok?

   The older, the wiser? Senior Internship Program Turning Into A Beautiful Friendship!

“The Intern” was produced and directed by Nancy Meyers in 2015. It tells the encouraging story of a 70-year-old widower called Ben (played by Robert Niro) who is looking for a new challenge in his life, since his retirement has brought nothing but boredom to his life.

Ben is a cheerful retired widower who is looking for a job. Even though he is retired, he feels like he is lacking purpose in life. By deciding to get back in the game, he applies for a senior internship program at “About the Fit” , a fast-growing e-commerce startup, founded and managed by Jules Ostin (Anne Hathaway) who even though had previously approved the senior program, had a difficult time remembering it when she heard the news about the new interns. Ben’s communicative skills and friendliness wins the human resource team over and he is one of the four senior employees to participate in this program. He is assigned to work with no less a person than Jules herself. Jules is no easy task and will need some time adjusting to Ben, who despite listening patiently to her every demand and promptly doing what she requests, will face Jules’ resistance to him and will have to find a way to win her trust. 
 As the plot develops, Ben and Jules connect deeply and we are able to fully grasp Jules’s character and strong personality. You will embark on a different kind of friendship. One that was not meant to exist, but due to Ben’s patience and charisma, a memorable and refreshing affection will flourish.

Robert de Niro’s outstanding performance along with Anna Hathaway will keep you asking for more! They instantly click and you can see a meaningful change not only in Ben’s boring routine but also In Jule’s approach to life and the way she runs things around her startup.

I would highly recommend this movie. It is a heartwarming story that turns out to be an insightful message of how there is a lot to be learned with our elder citizens. It also means retirement is not the end and we should never take the old for granted. There is still a lot they can do and contribute to our society. All they need is a chance.

Which movie would like me to review? Leave a comment and I will definitely write about it!

Share this post with your friends!

• 3 phrases to say you are excited
• 7 questions you must know at the airport
• adjectives personality
• advanced books in english
• affirmative sentences with verb to be
• airport english
• although exercise
• although in english
• among and between
• aprenda verbos frasais
• aprender ingles
• aprender verbos frasais
• aula de ingles
• aulas de ingles
• auxiliary verb
• basic english
• basic grammar
• best advanced books
• best books to study english
• best english books
• best english course books
• best tips for time management
• between and among
• body parts in english
• book review
• books in english
• books to study english
• but and although
• can could be able to
• can i learn english with translation
• cecelia ahern
• clock in english
• come along phrasal verb
• common mistakes in english
• common phrasal verbs
• como aprender passado em ingles
• como estudar ingles
• como falar ingles sozinho
• como não travar no ingles
• como para de traduzir tudo em ingles
• como parar de traduzir
• como pensar em ingles sem traduzir o tempo o todo
• confusing verbs
• contextualization
• countable and uncountable nouns
• countable nouns
• coursebooks
• daily routine
• daily routine lesson
• definite and indefinite articles
• demonstrative pronouns
• despite the fact that
• dicas de conversação em Inglês
• dicas de ingles
• dicas para estudar ingles
• dictionaries in english
• diferença entre leave and let
• difference between among and between
• difference between but and although
• difference between let and leave
• difference between see and look
• difference between some and any
• difference between watch and see
• difference between what and which
• different uses of can
• different ways to say bye
• disagree in english
• disagree politely in english
• do i need to translate
• down phrasal verbs
• drive phrasal verbs
• driving phrasal verbs
• eating habits in english
• ed adjectives
• ed and ing adjectives
• elementary grammar
• english adverbs
• english and travel
• english at the airport
• english body parts
• english books
• english books for beginners
• english books for intermediate
• english challenges
• english course books
• english coursebooks
• english expressions
• english for tourism
• english grammar
• english grammar any some
• english grammar who and whose
• english idioms
• english lesson
• english lessons
• english listening
• english not improving
• english phrasa verbs
• english phrasal verbs
• english podcast
• english prhasal verbs
• english time management
• english tips
• english translation
• english verbs
• english vocabulary
• English with tv shows
• english writing
• esl grammar
• estudar ingles
• excitement in english
• expressions about money
• expressions and idioms about money
• expressions and idioms in english
• expressions in english
• falar ingles sozinho
• feelings in english
• food vocabulary
• frases com go
• get along with
• get along with phrasal verb
• give phrasal verbs phrasal verbs
• go away in english
• grammar in english
• grammar in use
• grammar is easy
• grammar lesson
• grammar nouns
• grammar routine in english
• grammar teacher prix
• halloween holiday
• he she it questions
• his and her
• history of halloween
• how americans celebrate halloween
• how did halloween start
• how many times should i listen to the same audio in english
• how to describe a movie in english
• how to disagree politely in english
• how to get away with
• how to improve english speaking
• how to improve vocabulary
• how to improve your pronunciation and intonation in english
• how to learn phrasal verbs
• how to learn simple past
• how to practice english speaking alone
• how to say goodbye
• how to stop mental translation
• how to stop translating
• how to stop translating in my head
• how to study english
• how to study vocabulary
• how to talk about abilities
• how to talk about daily routine
• how to talk about movies in english
• how to talk about personality in english
• how to talk about the time in english
• how to think in english
• how to think in english easily
• how to understand movies
• how to understand movies in english
• how to use linking verbs
• how to use modal verbs
• how to use phrasal verbs
• how to use possessive adjectives
• how to use present perfect
• how to use why
• how to use wish
• human body parts
• i can't think in english
• I can't understand movies in english
• idioms in english
• importance of english
• improve english vocabulary
• improve listening
• improve your reading comprehension
• imrove listening
• in spite of
• incorrect phrases
• ing adjectives
• intensifying adverbs
• learn english
• learn english grammar
• learn figure out
• learn how to use phrasal verbs
• learn phrasal vebs
• learn phrasal verbs
• learn phrasal verbs in english
• learn plural nouns
• leave and let
• let down phrasal verb
• let or leave
• linking verbs
• list of phrasal verbs in english
• listen to podcasts
• listening exercises
• live up to the hype
• longman book
• manual do ingles
• manual do ingles real
• meaning be in the black
• meaning be in the red
• meaning of turn down
• modais em ingles
• modal verb can
• modal verbs
• modal verbs in english
• money expressions
• morning routine
• move in phrasal verbs
• movie conversation in english
• movie review
• movies in english
• mum's the word
• my english is not improving
• my favorite tv shows
• my last vacation
• my last weekend
• my personality
• not worth a dime
• nouns in english
• nouns verbs and adjectives
• o'clock
• oxford coursebooks
• personality in english
• phrasal verb
• phrasal verb bring in
• phrasal verb definitions
• phrasal verb dress up
• phrasal verb figure out
• phrasal verb get over
• phrasal verb how to get away
• phrasal verb let down
• phrasal verb live up to
• phrasal verb look up to
• phrasal verb meanings
• phrasal verb pull over
• phrasal verb put off
• phrasal verb put up with
• phrasal verb show off
• phrasal verb take away
• phrasal verb turn down
• phrasal verb watch out for
• phrasal verbs
• phrasal verbs in english
• phrasal verbs list
• phrasal verbs with down
• phrasal verbs with give
• phrases native speakers use
• phrases to show excitement
• phrases with go
• phrasl verbs in english
• plural and singular
• plural nouns
• plural rules
• plural words
• podcast about halloween
• podcast halloween
• podcast in english
• podcasts in english
• polite english
• possessive adjectives
• prepositional expressions
• present continuous
• present perfect
• presente perfeito
• pronunciation in english intonation in english
• put up with
• question words
• questions in english
• questions with do
• questions with does
• read or watch tv
• reading in english
• reading lesson
• reading tip
• reading tips
• repeating audios in english
• resolutions
• simple past
• simple past introduction
• simple present
• simple present questions
• some and any
• speak english
• speaking about movies in english
• speaking alone in english
• study english
• talk about the weekend in english
• talking about my personality
• teacher prix
• teacher prix grammar
• teacher prix how to think in english
• teacher prix phrasal verbs
• telling the time in english
• the intouchables
• the older the wiser
• the year I met you
• these those
• think in english
• think in english easily
• think in english more easily
• think in english teacher prix
• thinking in english
• time in english
• time management
• time management for english learners
• to be broke
• to be in the black
• to be in the red
• to flick someone
• to sugar coat
• towel flicking
• translation
• travel english
• turn down meaning
• tv series in english
• tv series to improve english
• TV series to learn english
• understand movies
• use books to learn english
• useful phrases for speaking
• verb to be in english
• verbos frasais
• verbs in english
• vocabulary body parts
• was and were
• watch out for phrasal verb
• wh question words
• WH questions
• what and which
• what are linking verbs
• what is get over
• what is halloween
• what is present perfect
• what is to flick
• what kind of books should you read
• what time is it
• what to read in english
• what where when
• what's that
• what's this
• who and whose
• why and because
• wish in english
• work phrasal verbs

Priscila Pereira

Starbucks and TV Series lover: juggling with teaching, blogging, and a YouTube life! I’m teacher Prix and I want to help you talk to anyone, anywhere, anytime in English! This blog is for English speakers who are looking for an effective blog. Get inspired by hundreds of different posts for all English levels, so that you can finally learn English easily and effectively on the internet.

Related posts:

July 16, 2019

How To Talk About Movies in English – English Speaking

June 1, 2017

Movie Review – The Intouchables – Writing in English

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

• June 27 Reflejando otra vez con los ELD seniors
• June 27 A letter to sophomores: how to run next year’s marathon
• June 22 What it means to be a Giant
• June 20 The bulging red bumps of your teen years shouldnt be normalized: Acne vulgaris, a detrimentally neglected disease
• June 15 Redwood class of 2024 graduates amid tears, cheers and airhorns: A celebration to remember
• June 12 Redwood seniors celebrate their last day of school
• June 11 April 18, 1906: Catalyst for SF homelessness
• June 11 Classroom Fuel: Which Energy Drink Reigns Supreme?
• June 11 Bark beats: Four albums for four memorable years
• June 11 Where to shop for your dorm essentials
• June 11 Got games on your phone? Reviewing Eras of Online Games
• June 11 Nick The Greek opens in Bon Air, bringing a taste of Greek cuisine to Marin

Redwood Bark

View this profile on Instagram The Redwood Bark (@ theredwoodbark ) • Instagram photos and videos

El año pasado, tuve la oportunidad de hablar con estudiantes del grado 12 en la clase de English Language Development (ELD) sobre sus experiencias...

Are you a sophomore excited for your junior year? Are you going to college? Have you taken the SAT? Where are you applying? What's your GPA?...

In fifth grade, I attended my first-ever Redwood basketball game. It was a rainy Thursday night in a gym packed with energetic students. As I...

Roots Down unites parents and seniors in laughter and in tears

Redwood senior athletes recognized in new venue celebration

Redwood class of 2024 graduates amid tears, cheers and airhorns: A celebration to remember

“The Intern” adressess serious issues with serious lack of depth

After failing to fill the growing emptiness in his life following retirement, 70-year-old, widowed Ben Whittaker (Robert De Niro) is hired as a personal intern to Jules Ostin (Anne Hathaway), the CEO of her self-created online fashion start-up, in director and screenwriter Nancy Meyer’s latest movie, “The Intern.”

At the start of the film, Ben quickly grows in popularity with his younger coworkers due to his affable personality and hard-work ethic. The only person who is not immediately in favor of him working at the company is Jules. Nonetheless, she is soon won over by Ben’s charm and helpfulness and a budding friendship begins in which Ben helps her solve problems at work and in her personal life.

“The Intern” is a reliable, feel-good movie that captures the viewer’s interest and De Niro and Hathaway do an excellent job of building emotional connections between the audience and the characters throughout the 121 minutes. The film, however, is moderately comedic and leaves the viewer with mixed messages. On the surface, the plot is well-constructed, but lacks depth, and many loose ends remain untied as Meyers glosses over the struggle of balancing a career and family.

Furthermore, Ben’s chivalry extends far beyond the realm of possibility.  He never misses a beat, never makes a mistake, and he even helps instruct the younger men at the office in the art of being a gentleman. Even when he and two other coworkers break into the house of Jules’ mother to delete an accidentally sent email, he remains portrayed as morally unblemished.  

Jules seems to have it all, managing both her family and her career, but behind her near-perfect image, she struggles with keeping her home life together. Ultimately the film resolves her marital problems far too quickly and simply to be realistic and the difficulty in maintaining a strong mother-daughter relationship while having a full-time career is practically ignored.

In addition, the movie allocates almost all the comedy to three characters: Ben, and two coworkers Jason (Adam Devine), and Davis (Zack Pearlman), and contains quite a few cliches, such as Jules’ cold, unaffectionate mother and the patronizing stay-at-home moms at her daughter’s school who make condescending comments about Jules’ parenting. And, of course, an obvious stereotype is that because Jules is a successful business women, she must work in the fashion industry.

This intergenerational film is predominantly about friendship, a refreshing alternative to rom-coms, but does not withstand scrutiny and is quickly reduced to superficiality when one delves a little further into the messages of the film. Additionally, “The Intern” does not garner enough laughter to be considered a full-fledged comedy, but instead straddles flighty drama and sparse humor.  

The film does bring up important questions about how society can combine traditional values with modern life. Meyers, however, explores this in such a superficial manner that it becomes ridiculous when Jules, inebriated, laments about what has happened to the male species, as if the fact that millennial men do not wear handkerchiefs is a tragic loss.

Despite the movie containing some feminist aspects, the contradiction that the self-sufficient career woman ends up relying on a man (even only as a friend) undoes the notion that Hathaway, a smart and savvy woman, can succeed independently.  

Although the movie was quite enjoyable to watch and is overall well-done, Meyers seems to use the film as a platform to voice her opinions on the dying breed of gentlemen by making Jules her mouthpiece and using Ben as an unrealistic model of such a gentleman, leaving the charisma of the two main actors as one of the few factors holding up the film’s flimsy foundation.  

Similar to the life of its female protagonist, the movie has a flawless facade, but behind it lie issues with the focus of the plot and the message the film conveys, but unlike Jules it does not have a guardian angel to rescue it.

• Adam Devine
• Anne Hathaway
• Ben Whittaker
• Jules Ostin
• Nancy Meyers
• Robert De Niro
• Zack Pearlman

• Share full article

Their Job Is to Help You Grieve Your Pet

Though still rare, social workers in animal hospitals are growing in their ranks.

Claire Johnson, a veterinary social worker, left, comforted Zorro, a 16-year-old cockapoo, as he was prepared for euthanasia at MedVet, a 24-hour pet care facility in Chicago. Credit...

Supported by

By Katie Thomas

Photographs by Jamie Kelter Davis

For this story, Katie Thomas spent a shift shadowing social workers at an emergency veterinary hospital in Chicago.

• Published June 24, 2024 Updated June 25, 2024

This article is part of our Pets special section on scientists’ growing interest in our animal companions.

Amy Conroy sat alone in a veterinary exam room, hands clutching a water bottle, eyes blinking back tears. Her 16-year-old cat, Leisel, had been having trouble breathing. Now, she was waiting for an update.

The door opened, and Laurie Maxwell came in.

Ms. Maxwell works for MedVet, a 24-hour emergency veterinary hospital in Chicago. But when she took a seat opposite Ms. Conroy on a Monday evening in May, she explained that she wasn’t there for the cat. She was there for Ms. Conroy.

Ms. Maxwell is a veterinary social worker, a job in a little-known corner of the therapy world that focuses on easing the stress, worry and grief that can arise when a pet needs medical care.

Pets no longer exist at the periphery of the human family — to take one example, a survey in 2022 found that almost half of Americans sleep with an animal in their bed. As that relationship has intensified, so has the stress when something goes wrong. Those emotions can spill over at animal hospitals, where social workers can help pet owners work through difficult choices, such as whether to euthanize a pet or whether they can afford to pay thousands of dollars for their care.

Though still rare, social workers in animal hospitals are growing in their ranks. Large chains, like VCA , are beginning to employ them, as are major academic veterinary hospitals . The service is typically offered for free. About 175 people have earned a certification in veterinary social work from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, which is a center for the field.

We are having trouble retrieving the article content.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and  log into  your Times account, or  subscribe  for all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber?  Log in .

Want all of The Times?  Subscribe .

Advertisement

Will Biden be ‘overprepared’ in his debate against Trump?

Don’t believe the hype. there’s no such thing as over preparing for this (almost) presidential debate..

There’s been a noted contrast in the media’s pontificating ahead of Thursday’s CNN debate between President Biden and former president Donald Trump.

This has been the general tone. On Monday, ABC’s “World News Tonight” reported that Biden is “hunkering down in Camp David with over a dozen aides intently preparing for the most consequential moment yet of this campaign.” But reporter Mary Bruce said that “unlike Biden, Trump is not formally preparing for Thursday’s debate, but he has held more than a dozen policy discussions with current and former advisers.”

Having more than a dozen policy discussions with advisers sounds exactly like Trump is also formally preparing for this debate, the first ever between presumptive nominees.

Trump has just as much at risk in this debate as Biden. Both men are their party’s oldest ever standard bearer, and their advanced ages are a campaign issue. That’s the point behind this unusually early meeting — each wants to prove before a national audience that they have the physical and mental acuity to do a job that can grind down even the most stalwart leaders. (In his last known photo, Abraham Lincoln is 55 but looks like he’s pushing 80. That’s what four years of Civil War will do.)

But the coverage hasn’t reflected that this much-hyped debate could sink or bolster either campaign or that Trump knows what’s at stake for him even as the media often downplays how he needs to behave in his first debate in nearly four years.

Advertisement

In an essay for The New York Times published on Tuesday, Hillary Clinton said that debate expectations for Trump “are so low that if he doesn’t literally light himself on fire on Thursday evening, some will say he was downright presidential.”

Clinton understands this grading curve for Trump better than anyone. After the first contentious Clinton-Trump debate in 2016, NBC’s Chuck Todd said the former secretary of state and US senator “was at times, you could argue, even over prepared.”

But when Todd critiqued the former reality show host — who falsely claimed that he never called climate change a Chinese hoax and interrupted Clinton three times more than she interrupted him — he said, “That was Donald Trump who we’ve all come to cover in this campaign. Very reactive. He was filled with emotion.”

If Clinton had behaved the way Trump did, she wouldn’t have been lauded for being “filled with emotion.” She would have been branded as too unhinged to be president.

But from the moment Trump declared his first presidential run nine years ago this month, he has never been treated like other candidates. There’s an unofficial Trump standard that justifies style over substance as if his actions are radical performance art instead of the dangerous machinations of a man who aspires to a dictatorship built on revenge and destroying democracy.

In an interview on a conservative podcast last week, Trump said that when people ask him how he’s prepping for the debate, he says, “I’m preparing by taking questions from you and others, if you think about it.” Trump wants to portray himself as someone who doesn’t need to prepare for something for which he pretends to have a natural gift.

He doesn’t. Trump lacks the comportment for civilized debate — that’s why CNN made both candidates agree to rules such as muted microphones unless it’s their turn to speak and no live audience so that the whole thing doesn’t devolve into just another Trump rally like CNN’s ill-conceived Trump town hall last year. (It also means Biden will be robbed of another opportunity to tell Trump to his face to “shut up.” )

Because Republicans can’t decide if Biden is feeble-minded or a Machiavellian mastermind, Trump has called Biden a “worthy debater ” but continues to insist that the president take a drug test to prove that he’s not on performance-enhancing drugs. That’s a mendacious claim Trump and his minions started after Biden’s robust and generally well-received State of the Union address in March. At one of his recent rallies, Trump said that Biden will get “a shot in the ass” to better his debate performance.

This is just another version of Trump’s contention that anything he loses must be rigged. Add to Trump’s lies about voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election his evidence-free accusation that Biden will be “jacked up” on medical supplements for the debate.

Putting his thumb on the scale is also pre-debate preparation for Trump, but it certainly isn’t all he’s doing. Yet many in the media foster the impression that Biden needs to rigorously prepare for their meeting while Trump only needs to show up on time and be Trump.

History has shown that when it comes to judging Trump’s debate performances, the bar isn’t just low — there’s no bar at all.

Renée Graham is a Globe columnist. She can be reached at [email protected] . Follow her @reneeygraham .

Globe Opinion