Ryan McNeil
There’s a lot of people out there that would be thrown for a wicked loop if we one day lost our jobs. These are people who might be great at tasks no longer much-needed, or people who have remained loyal to a company that no longer feels loyal to them. For these people, hearing “your services are no longer required” comes with an extra sting because it leaves them wondering where their services could be required. The world has drastically changed for these sorts of people in record time. They are left with few options, and those few options are in high demand. So what are they to do if they don’t have the tools to land the new gig?
Talk a good game and fake it.
THE INTERNSHIP is the story of Billy and Nick (Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson). The longtime friends are watch salesman, and with far fewer people wearing watches these days, their company decides to close up shop. This leaves the two of them adrift, not knowing what to do with themselves next. With the job market being what it is, and with their limited skill set, they find themselves open to anything.
Enter Google.
While searching for job listings, Billy realizes that the search itself is a job listing. He applies both he and Nick for an internship program at Google. While many around the recruiting table at Google look at their interview as a complete train wreck – one that’s smouldering something that smells like bullshit – one staffer at Google sees potential. Lyle (Josh Brener), a junior programmer, convinces enough of the recruiting team that Billy and Nick might be able to bring something different to the table, considering they have far more life experience than any other applicant.
And so it was that Billy and Nick became Google interns.
However, that was the easy part. In order to parlay the internship into a paying gig, they need to work with Lyle and lead a team of three other interns through a competition. It’s instantly clear that the guys have no idea what they’re doing, but the team succeeds or fails as a team. Therefore they all need to come together and “think different” (that’s a Goole thing, right?) in order to land the job they all want.
THE INTERNSHIP is wickedly predictable. From the moment Billy and Nick show up at Google, it’s easy to predict who will help them, who will hate them, who they’ll grow on, and how the competition will shake down. It is the film’s greatest failing, and one that seems completely avoidable. A comedy like this doesn’t call for a lot of gravitas, but just one or two moments of pure honesty would have gone a long way.
The closest it ever gets is the way it underlines how quickly the world has sped away from Billy & Nick. This theme is as relevant as it gets, since we live in an age where many professions that once seemed sturdy have quickly vanished. It’s not as if there was a slow, steady decline that made once-crackerjack professionals obsolete. Nope, for many, the ground shifted before they knew what was coming. To that end, Billy and Nick represent a lot of people in today’s economy.
In this situation, Vaughn and Wilson do their usual schtick. Wilson “aww-shucks” his way into other characters’ good books, and keeps one hand on the rudder lest they both get lost in the current. Vaughn exhausts everyone around him with a Tommygun mouth that dares them to get the last word. As expected, there are moments where each approach works to their advantage. Unfortunately, there are also a lot more moments where one wishes these guys would find a new bit.
However, into that rain of predictability, there are a few spots of sunshine. It’s interesting to watch how Aasif Mandvi and Josh Brener interact with these two jokers. They spend most of the film in opposite corners, with one believing the guys (and by extension, their team) are doomed to fail, and the other wanting the guys to pull through. Each one interacts with Nick and Billy in a very genuine way, helping to temper all of the silliness they get themselves into during quidditch matches and brainstorming sessions. Both actors do really nice things with what they’re given, leaving one to wonder if the film might have been so much the better by giving Rose Byrne equal clout.
I’ve long believed that comedies such as THE INTERNSHIP should be graded as pass/fail. Nothing about this film gives the impression that it’s out to transcend the genre, and therefore the only question that needs to be answered is “Did it make you laugh?” – and I did laugh. I laughed warmly and on several occasions.
By that measure, and that measure alone, THE INTERNSHIP demonstrates its Googlieness. Make of that what you will.
I loved it a lot to be honest, mostly because it was so entertaining. I didn’t hope for a new The Social Network (which is not shy of perfect in my book) and I guess I was right because it provided more fun than thought for me. Every bit of your review is true, though, and the insight to many people’s dated way of… being.
It’s amusing at the very least. Know what’s been strange for me? Hearing people refer to it as one long piece of product placement. How can you product-place things that are mostly free?
I enjoyed this film. Sure it was a giant ad for Google, but it was also a comedy with a lot of heart and good intentions. I’m sick of comedies which are mean-spirited and resort to nastiness for laughs. This was a refreshing break from that.
So, in comparison to THIS IS THE END?