Damn does time fly! It feels like it was only a couple of years ago that I used to check out Chennai Times for movie reviews of the latest releases. I remember seeing The Intern on there with raving reviews back when it was released. But I was not interested in seeing another of De Niro’s Dirty Grandpa movies. Yeah, I judged it. I did get to know it was not that kind of film later and wanted to watch it. And here we are, having watched it almost 10 years later, on my blog!
What gets you out of bed every day?
A couple of years back, on this website’s original *coughs* philosophy version, I’d written something along those lines. I’m still asking myself that question, and anyone that I meet, but let’s get on with the film. A 70-year-old widower, obviously retired, has traveled all over the world. But waking up every day, he has nothing to do. He’s happy alright, but bored out of his mind. In his words, there’s a hole that he needs to fill, and fast. Oh, I know what holes you’re thinking about. But no, this is more holistic (no pun intended!). I’m not 70, but ain’t that relatable? So what does Benji do? He gets himself a job. As an Intern. At a fashion start-up!
You go, Girl!
Welcome to About The Fit! The unicorn was started by Anne Hathway’s Jules Ostin and scaled from 24 to 220 employees in just over 18 months. I have to admit, for the first 30 minutes of the film, I thought this was a hustling single lady trying to prove to the world she belongs in the big leagues. That was until I saw her go home to her kid and stay-at-home husband. A hustler alright, but she did have her priorities set.
Enough premise. De Niro is assigned as the PA to the boss — the boss that does not want him around as she doesn’t know of a little something called “asking for help”. I quite enjoyed the dynamic between these two characters. The way they both grew closer together in a kind of mentor-mentee relationship but also as friends. In particular, I was pleasantly surprised it evolved organically without coming off as a father-daughter kind of dynamic! I feel this kind of writing goes unnoticed usually as it is so subtly pulled off. The actors pulled it off to the tee as well!
You do not have to write seriously dramatic scenes with multiple layers for it to be called exceptional writing. Here, less was more, and worked great.
Boys should be Men!
Oh my, did that sound like Andrew Tate xD? It’s alright if it did. Because this section might be me extrapolating from the film. There was one instance of a dialog that said –
Nobody calls men “men” anymore. Have you noticed? Women went from “girls” to “women.”Men went from “men” to “boys?” This is a problem in the big picture. Do you know what I mean?
Jules Ostin
I mean, who’d have thought we’d get to this point?! Had I watched it when the film was released, I might not have thought about it at all. But today, it does make a lot of sense. I had a couple of years in limbo. Still, am I? Maybe. But what I mean is, there are fewer chivalrous role models around today. And quite of lot of quirkiness. I’m not judging and I’m not here to get into the debates of this though. Because after saying this, she also dissed video games :P! But this sure is food for thought.
Anyway, brush that aside for now. This is another of those movies I loved and want to recommend now. The 2024 movies haven’t been great, to be honest. But the vaults have been gracious to me! You watch this next if you haven’t. But what should I?
