'The Intern' Deserves a Raise

At the moment Ben arrives on the scene, the company's investors are pressuring Jules to hire a CEO, who would essentially become her boss. Drawing upon his reserves of experience and horse sense — products of his long years in a corporate environment — Ben becomes precisely the trusted adviser Jules needs.

A lesser movie might have gone the cheap route and engineered some ridiculous May-September romance between these two, but sure-handed writer-director Meyers doesn't distract us with unlikely twists. Jules is married — how happily is a matter of debate — and Ben, though still mourning the death of his wife, quickly strikes up a low-burn relationship with the company's staff masseuse(!), played by a radiant if underutilized Rene Russo.

The Intern has a lot on its plate. The film tackles ageism and sexism in the workplace; intergenerational relationships; marital pressures; dating at 50-plus; corporate chicanery; and the infuriating way technology simultaneously links and divides us. (Jules frequently speaks by cellphone with her mother, voiced by Mary Kay Place, using that very phone to keep her mom at arm's length.)

Somehow, though, the viewer never feels overstuffed. The issues flow one to another and frequently overlap, just as they do in real life. There are a few comically manic scenes, but for the most part The Intern's characters are not averse to stopping in their tracks and talking things out. You'll find not one villain in the film; the people who cause each other pain seem to do so without premeditation, and they all come around at the end to apologize for their thoughtlessness. If it's a slightly unrealistic view of the way we humans tend to resolve our differences, it's also a terrifically appealing one — and a lesson that movies all too seldom relay.

One such scene, understated as it is, stands as the film's most memorable set piece: a long, soul-baring session between Jules and Ben in a hotel bed (the sweet, innocent way Meyers gets these two to share a mattress is a wonder to behold). In the quiet of the night they divulge their secrets, their regrets, their hopes. The moment feels so authentic it's almost embarrassing to listen in.

At the end of their talk, as Jules drifts off to sleep, Ben watches misty-eyed as the TV plays that wonderful scene from Singin' in the Rain where Gene Kelly sings "You Were Meant for Me" to a glowing Debbie Reynolds. Tears well up in Ben's eyes as the music swells. He's sad. And he's happy. He's conflicted. And he's determined.

In that moment, we understand that life doesn't always compartmentalize itself. Neither does a fine movie.

Bill Newcott is a writer, editor and movie critic for AARP Media.