Ploumis Reviews “The Internship”…Is it just me, or is it getting harder and harder to be happy? You’re smart, you make a plan, figure out what you want to do with your life. You embrace the talent God gave you and are now ready to contribute to the world as a working adult – only to find out they’re not going to hire you. Wait what?The Internship (2013)
Director: Shawn Levy
Written by: Vince Vaughn and Jared Stern

I thought answering the “what do you want to be when you grow up question” was the hard part? Nope. The hard part is rejection from your dream, by your dream. Happiness is absolutely subject to Darwinism, and the “Average Joe” is dying out.

Funny?

You bet it is.

It’s the Internship.

The Internship is a buddy comedy about two middle-aged men who learn they’ve lost their jobs as manufacturer’s sales reps. The dynamic duo of Billy and Nick (Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson) are known for their charm and enthusiasm on the job . . . which is the limit of their skill set. They need to reinvent themselves fast if they want to keep working in today’s tech savvy world. Billy has the crazy idea to work at Google – which is rated the top place to work in America. Hesitant at first, Nick agrees to go along with the plan and interview for the chance to be interns at Google. Despite their vast lack of qualifications the two charm their way into the Google Internship program – and it’s anything but easy.

Intern-as-loser

Surrounded by fresh faced twenty-somethings, Billy and Nick are assigned to the group of “leftovers” who no one wanted to work with. The group is made up of Yo-Yo, a socially stunted home-schooler who was breast fed until he was seven; Neha, a fashionista who’s obsessed with pornographic cosplay and fan fiction; Stuart, the hipster cool guy who hates everyone and everything and the group’s team leader Lyle, a Google manager who raps all of his words when he gets nervous. Despite their quirks, these kids are brilliant, and all want a chance at their dream job just like Billy and Nick. The group who does the best in all the challenges will win jobs at Google (for the entire group). The problem is Billy and Nick are weighing the group down with their lack of genius. Frustrated, the group tries to haze them out.

Billy and Nick do a Bill Murray from Stripes

It’s not until the group is united by the disgust they feel towards their unbroken string of defeats that the group finally comes together. Being “athletic savants,” Billy and Nick rally their team  during their Quidditch match (yeah this is as amazing as it sounds), with an inspirational speech:

“This reminds me of a little girl from a steel town who had the dream to dance. She had to strip down to nothing, she had to sit in a chair and arch her back and she reached up and pulled that chain to nowhere and doused herself with water . . . She literally had to become a maniac!”

Hilarious – I was in tears laughing at this scene! And the movie continues like this until the very end. The jokes and scenarios straddle that ever-so-thin yet ever-so-perfect line that divides the ridiculous from the relatable. The bromance comedy is one we all know well. The love is adorable and the ending is predictable – and so what.

The Internship as sermon and pep talk

I am not someone who watches a lot of comedies, and I really don’t like movies that I can “figure out” five minutes in. That being said I have watched this movie literally a hundred times – it gives me hope. It’s comforting to see that whether you’re fresh out of school or middle aged and obsolete – we are all the same. We are all just chasing down happiness, and there is no easy way of getting it. There is no advantage in having years of work experience or the latest Ivy League curriculum vitae. The truth is we are all struggling, and it’s bad out there – like really bad. Most of us are unhappy and settling for a job that just pays the bills. Rather than dwell on that, The Internship rallies us all together and gives hope to the dreamers. And better than that – it lets us laugh through it.