This Review Reveals Minor Details About the Plot.
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Plot Overview
To some plunkity string music, the camera brings us down from a canopy of trees to a group in the park practicing Tai Chi. A voice-over quotes Freud, “Love and work, work and love, that's all there is.” Seventy-year-old pensioner Ben Whittaker (Robert De Niro) having worked for a phone book company forty years, becoming its VP of printing and working in marketing after that, 3½ years ago lost his beloved wife of 42 years, and now he “keeps moving” visiting exotic lands, studying various subjects, and finding worthwhile ventures to pursue. A flyer catches his eye advertising a 'Seniors Intern Programme' at a tele-acquisition fashion firm called 'About the Fit' ('ATF'). He applies (“first time we're hiring senior interns”) and is accepted (“Congratulations, you're an intern.”) Then he gets assigned as personal intern to gung ho 32-year-old female founder and CEO Jules Ostin (Anne Hathaway) who doesn't want an intern but has to set an example. “I'm not gonna have a lot for you to do,” she tells him. He slowly picks up work and love, setting an example to the younger men and becoming an anchor to his frazzled boss.
Ideology
The Apocrypha is accepted by Catholics, and its Wisdom books by the Protestants for edification purposes (though they be not included in the latter's canon.) Among them is Ecclesiasticus, also known as The Wisdom of the Son of Sirach. Portions seem applicable to “The Intern” as follows: (Sirach 38:24–39:12)
The wisdom of a learned man cometh by opportunity of leisure: and he that hath little business shall become wise. How can he get wisdom that holdeth the plough, and that glorieth in the goad, that driveth oxen, and is occupied in their labours, and whose talk is of bullocks? He giveth his mind to make furrows; and is diligent to give the kine fodder. So every carpenter and workmaster, that laboureth night and day: and they that cut and grave seals, and are diligent to make great variety, and give themselves to counterfeit imagery, and watch to finish a work:
The smith also sitting by the anvil, and considering the iron work, the vapour of the fire wasteth his flesh, and he fighteth with the heat of the furnace: the noise of the hammer and the anvil is ever in his ears, and his eyes look still upon the pattern of the thing that he maketh; he setteth his mind to finish his work, and watcheth to polish it perfectly:
So doth the potter sitting at his work, and turning the wheel about with his feet, who is alway carefully set at his work, and maketh all his work by number; He fashioneth the clay with his arm, and boweth down his strength before his feet; he applieth himself to lead it over; and he is diligent to make clean the furnace: All these trust to their hands: and every one is wise in his work. Without these cannot a city be inhabited: and they shall not dwell where they will, nor go up and down: They shall not be sought for in publick counsel, nor sit high in the congregation: they shall not sit on the judges' seat, nor understand the sentence of judgment: they cannot declare justice and judgment; and they shall not be found where parables are spoken. But they will maintain the state of the world, and [all] their desire is in the work of their craft.
But he that giveth his mind to the law of the most High, and is occupied in the meditation thereof, will seek out the wisdom of all the ancient, and be occupied in prophecies. He will keep the sayings of the renowned men: and where subtil parables are, he will be there also.He will seek out the secrets of grave sentences, and be conversant in dark parables. He shall serve among great men, and appear before princes: he will travel through strange countries; for he hath tried the good and the evil among men. He will give his heart to resort early to the Lord that made him, and will pray before the most High, and will open his mouth in prayer, and make supplication for his sins.
When the great Lord will, he shall be filled with the spirit of understanding: he shall pour out wise sentences, and give thanks unto the Lord in his prayer. He shall direct his counsel and knowledge, and in his secrets shall he meditate. He shall shew forth that which he hath learned, and shall glory in the law of the covenant of the Lord. Many shall commend his understanding; and so long as the world endureth, it shall not be blotted out; his memorial shall not depart away, and his name shall live from generation to generation. Nations shall shew forth his wisdom, and the congregation shall declare his praise. If he die, he shall leave a greater name than a thousand: and if he live, he shall increase it. Yet have I more to say, which I have thought upon; for I am filled as the moon at the full.
Neither does “The Intern” fully cover this subject, but it does convey the idea of, (Acts 6:2) “Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables.” Ben understood the ins and outs of phone books when he was making them. Jules understands the ins and outs of her business big time. Her secretary Becky (Christina Scherer) has a business degree and is conversant in the business, as well. All these businesses are necessary for the functioning of society—though phone books less so anymore. But Ben now with leisure to study and travel proves himself invaluable in seeing the big picture.
This movie written and directed by a successful career woman brings into focus a feminist view by means of a double entendre in the business's name: 'About the Fit.' 'Fit' can mean the fit when getting togged out in the fashions they sell. It can also mean the fit Becky threw for doing so much office work and nobody appreciated her for it. The film expands the idea to successive generations when Jules referred (in a misdirected e-mail) to her mother as a “raging bitch” [sic], and to herself as “not easy”—especially on men. Ben observes that her six-year-old daughter Paige (JoJo Kushner) is “like a clone.” Feminists threw a fit that carried on for generations, but it was done from a narrow work perspective without understanding the big picture. Jules having succeeded at “crashing the glass ceiling of the tech world” finds herself with no friends, too little sleep, and looking at a bleak future. Her bacon is pulled out of the fire, maybe, by a wise intern Ben and a sympathetic house-husband—oops, he'd rather be called a stay-at- home dad—Matt (Anders Holm). The plot gets complicated, however, when Matt cheats on her. This issue can be addressed by (Sirach 23:18–21),
A man that breaketh wedlock, saying thus in his heart, Who seeth me? I am compassed about with darkness, the walls cover me, and no body seeth me; what need I to fear? the most High will not remember my sins: Such a man only feareth the eyes of men, and knoweth not that the eyes of the Lord are ten thousand times brighter than the sun, beholding all the ways of men, and considering the most secret parts. He knew all things ere ever they were created; so also after they were perfected he looked upon them all. This man shall be punished in the streets of the city, and where he suspecteth not he shall be taken.
Of course, he will get caught (“I spy with my little eye … .”) Jules realizes that she's in part to blame for having emasculated him with the lifestyle she chose. Unless men are domesticated with a work role expressing their manhood in providing for an established family, they tend to express their manhood by sowing wild oats, … that and a bit of larceny as we see here in an “Oceans Eleven” type escapade. Cf. novelist Frederick Ramsay: (151)
He didn't drink, smoke, or chew. In his youth, before he met Darcie, married, and had children, things were different. On the mountain, drinking came as natural as breathing. A boy became a man when he'd had his first full blown drunk, shot his first buck, and visited one of the Grainger girls. But that was all behind him now. He worked hard, took care of his family, and had a good future.
Traditionally men were guided into their provider roles by being paid well for their work, to make it an appealing lifestyle. The narrow-focused feminists don't want men to have that edge in the workplace. There have been repercussions. Jules expresses it as, “Women went from girls to women. Men went from men to boys.” This movie expresses an idealistic (partial) fix, or an attempt at one, without negating the feminist ideals to begin with. What can I say? It's Hollywood. And nicely done.
Production Values
This movie “” (2015) was written and directed by Nancy Meyers. It stars Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway. They are great at projecting their respective generations' beliefs, principles, challenges, and aspirations on and off the job. De Niro is quite engaging in a richly layered performance. Hathaway, for her part, adds remarkable depth. Their on-screen chemistry makes the film. The supporting cast does a worthy job, too.
MPAA rated it PG–13 for some suggestive content and brief strong language.
Review Conclusion w/ Christian Recommendation
This is a smooth Hollywood telling of how a successful business woman may also succeed at life when: her hubby is a contented house-husband, her intern is a wise old sage, and her six-year-old daughter has developed an adult vocabulary. Of course, when you leave the theater, reality will hit you in the face, but the movie itself, I found very touching. What are movies for if not escapism at times? DVD is expected to be out in January, 2016.
Movie Ratings
Action factor: Decent action scenes. Suitability for Children: Suitable for children 13+ years. Special effects: Well, at least you can't see the strings. Video Occasion: Good Date Movie. Suspense: A few suspenseful moments. Overall product rating: Four stars out of five.
Works Cited
Scripture quoted from the King James Version. Pub. 1611, rev. 1769. Software.
Apocryphal scripture taken from The Septuagint with Apocrypha: Greek and English. U.S.A.: Hendrickson Pub. Originally published by Samuel Bagster & Sons, Ltd., London, 1851. Print, WEB.
Ramsay, Frederick. Buffalo Mountain. Scottsdale: Poisoned Pen Press, First ed. 2007. Print.
bibles.n7nz.org