By William Muawad ’17 | Staff Writer

I saw “The Intern” over the weekend and it exceeded my expectations. After watching the trailers, I thought that the movie was going to be the typical teenager comedy film, filled with inappropriate jokes.  

What I witnessed was a totally different type of comedy. Instead of teenage comedy, the movie contained clever jokes for a mature audience. I really enjoyed the adult comedy in the film. I loved that the comedy was subtle; the jokes didn’t hit me over the head like so many other comedies I have seen.

The movie is takes place in Brooklyn, New York, where Ben Whittaker, played by Robert De Niro, a Brooklyn lifer, who is a 70-year-old widower and retired after over 40 years of work, is looking for something more in his life.  With no job and no wife, he has a giant hole in his life that he is looking to fill.  He decides to apply for a senior internship at a  startup online fashion company, called About The Fit. Whittaker ends up getting the internship and is assigned as the personal assistant to the creator of the company, Jules Ostin, played by Anne Hathaway. The story takes off as a unique bond forms between Whittaker and Ostin, leading to many laughs, smiles, and even a few tears.

From when Whittaker and Ostin first meet, their connection is instantaneous.  It can be seen by everybody except Ostin, who in the beginning pushes Whittaker away. But as the movie progresses, the bond grows from a boss and employee relationship, to a best friend relationship. These two characters and their comical, but sometimes serious relationship made the movie for me.  Without them, the movie would have lost its best actors and the connection they have with each other.

The thing that stood out to me the most in the move, was who Whittaker was as a person. He was a stand up guy, always opening the car door for Ostin and helping other employees at the company when they needed help, even when he didn’t have a lot of knowledge in that area. His polite and gentlemen-like attitude was refreshing to me. He also wasn’t afraid to make jokes about Ostin or anybody else at About The Fit, but he never overstepped his boundaries. Whittaker was the nicest and caring character that I have ever seen in any comedic film.

I loved the mature, adult comedy and all of the subtle, sporadic jokes that went with it. I also loved the fun and entertaining connection between Whittaker and Ostin, which kept the film both young and old at the same time. But, I would have to say that the best aspect of the movie for me was Whittaker and the gentlemen-like character he played.  I wouldn’t say that this was my favorite comedy movie I have ever seen, but I will say that it is a refresher from the typical, inappropriate teenager comedy that Hollywood so often produces.