The Internship features the first pairing of Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson since 2005's Wedding Crashers. The duo waited to re-team for years, holding out for the perfect project that would not bring them back together for the sake of solely bringing them back together. As can be seen in The Internship trailer, this is a remarkably different movie.
The story finds Vaughn as Billy with Wilson as Nick and the pair are clearly not only the best of friends, but also quite a selling team. They are in the watch business and are such good salesmen, we understand they could sell ice to an Eskimo. But, what is also quite obvious is that they are both dinosaurs. In an era where almost everyone buys items online, they still believe in the handshake seals the deal mentality.
Within the film’s first 10 minutes, they learn that their business is closing and they, after 20 years of doing the same thing, are left without a vocation. More importantly, they possess hardly any marketable skills for the world circa 2013.
What are they to do? Billy gets the idea in a moment of inspiration and clarity that they need to retool and what better way than through an internship -- and what better company, circa 2013, than Google?
The fish out of water storyline is nothing new in comedy, but in the hands of Vaughn and Wilson it is handled with fresh humor and tone. As they evidenced in Wedding Crashers, the duo are a priceless comic team where neither is truly the goof or the straight man. Each had their moments exploring both, and so much more.
And so is the case in their latest film, as teased in this hilarious The Internship clip where the duo are interviewing for the coveted internship with the tech giant.
Some critics have stated that a story of forty-somethings being clueless about the internet is dated. It has been reported that this film would have worked better in 2005, fresh off of their Wedding Crashers success. Is it hard to believe that people of that age would not know how to work a webcam? No! I know several people of that age who couldn’t figure it out, much less get it right for the first time during the pressure of a life or death interview with the company that defines the internet.
Although the internet is wide-ranging in our society, it is still not truly everywhere. It may be near 90-percent, but there is still a segment of the population where it is currently a foreign concept. And thus, therein lies the humor of Vaughn and Wilson navigating their way through The Internship.
Director Shawn Levy (Real Steel, Night at the Museum) balances this high wire act of humor, inspiration and heart with an even hand. He not only gets out of the way and allows Vaughn and Wilson to do what they do best, but Levy has employed a supporting cast that delivers firmly in their roles.
Most notably is Teen Wolf star Dylan O’Brien as a know-it-all tech savvy youth who has no patience for his fellow intern team members from Generation X. It is through O’Brien’s eyes that we see the clash of generations. It is easily understandable that people fresh out of college would wonder what a couple of “old guys” would be doing trying to work at Google.
But, that is what is so touching about the entire film. It shows its audience that anyone in this economy can find themselves out of a job, regardless of age or socio-economic status.
And what better way to combat stagnation than to respond by exploring new avenues, ripe with fresh opportunities?
Sure, the film has some predictable moments and it is not the laugh-out-loud fest that was Wedding Crashers. But, would we want Wilson and Vaughn to repeat themselves? Hardly. Our The Internship review finds that the comic duo has not only broadened their appeal, but left us wanting them to pair up once again. Let’s just hope it’s not in another eight years.