Blu-ray Review Comedy

'The Intern' Blu-ray Review: Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway are a mismatch made in Heaven

January 20, 2016Ben MK



FEATURE: 
Writer/director Nancy Meyers is a filmmaker best known for making movies about middle-aged characters and their romantic entanglements. In The Intern, however, Meyers turns her attention towards a different type of relationship, casting Robert De Niro as a senior citizen looking to fill the void in his life — not with love, but with gainful employment.

De Niro stars opposite Anne Hathaway as Ben Whittaker, a 70-year-old retiree and widower who lands an internship at AboutTheFit.com, a Brooklyn fashion startup run by ambitious entrepreneur and hands-on boss Jules Ostin (Hathaway). But even though the job may seem like a strange fit for a buttoned-down company man who spent 40 years working in the phone book manufacturing business, Ben soon finds himself a fixture of ATF's hectic-but-casual office environment, imparting his decades of hard-earned wisdom — not just about work, but about life — on his much-younger colleagues.

As for Jules, she's initially apprehensive about her new hire, but her tune begins to change as she starts to feel the pressure from investors demanding she be replaced with a more seasoned CEO. And before long, Ben finds himself in the surprising position of becoming her closest and most-trusted confidante, even getting to know her husband (Anders Holm) and young daughter (JoJo Kushner). Jules and Ben's relationship forms the crux of the movie, and Hathaway and De Niro are perfect in their respective roles, enjoying an effortless rapport on-screen that's a constant joy to watch.

A movie about friendship and trust rather than romance and lust, The Intern marks a minor departure — and a refreshing change of pace — for Meyers. Featuring a cast of 20-somethings (including Pitch Perfect's Adam Devine), as well as a few more mature actors (such as Rene Russo), the film also boasts an inter-generational appeal that Something's Gotta Give and It's Complicated (two of Meyers' recent efforts) lacked. The end result is the cinematic equivalent of comfort food, because whether you're 20 or 70, The Intern will leave you heart-warmed and feeling good.

AUDIO & VISUALS: 
Meyers' films are known for their visually-soothing aesthetic, and The Intern is no different. Whether it's the contemporary furnishings of Jules' New York City brownstone or the modern and monochromatic design of the ATF offices, it all looks great here, thanks to a winning Blu-ray transfer that showcases the movie's crisp detail and vibrant color palette. The film's soundstage offers little more than what you might expect from your standard comedy, but that's not to say the disc's DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sound mix doesn't do a great job. Dialogue and music are rendered with superb clarity, as are other sounds, from background chatter at the office to the ambience at a local bar.

EXTRAS: 
Warner's two-disc combo pack includes an UltraViolet digital copy, a DVD and the following Blu-ray extras:

  • Learning from Experience (4:46) - A piece about the making of the film, particularly its younger cast, De Niro's character, and the wisdom he passes onto his junior colleagues.
  • Designs on Life (6:07) - A featurette about writer/director Nancy Meyers' visual aesthetic, focusing on the production, set and costume design.
  • The Three Interns (5:46) - A piece about Lewis, Jason and Davis, the three younger interns who work with Ben, played by Jason Orley, Adam Devine and Zack Pearlman.

The Intern is available from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment as of January 19th, 2016. The Blu-ray features English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, French, Spanish and Portuguese Dolby Digital 5.1, and English Dolby Digital 5.1 Descriptive Audio tracks. The film is presented with English SDH, French, Spanish and Portuguese subtitles. The total runtime is 2 Hrs. 1 Min.







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