Despite the fact that it feels a bit like a protracted advert for Google, or that in general it isn’t an amazing film, The Internship DVD does contain a fair few chuckles along with a sort of endearing storyline. It’s been eight years since Owen Wilson (The Grand Budapest Hotel) and Vince Vaughn (Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues) last teamed up in The Wedding Crashers and while some of the old magic is replicated in The Internship, it’s a bit too flabby around the edges to live up to the previous marker they set down.
The storyline is upbeat and heartwarming with Vince and Owen playing down on their luck salesmen, Billy and Nick, who lose their job and decide to set out in a new career direction to get back to the American dream future they’re looking for in life. This leads them into applying for the Google internship programme and when they somehow manage to talk their way in over a local library-based video call they find themselves locked in a battle of wits at Google’s Mountsin View, California HQ with the smartest kids around.
The downside is that the product placement of the world’s biggest search engine pulls the rug under the movie, making it more about Googliness than about the battle of luckless salesmen to find a new direction in life. The story could have easily been told with an imaginary tech giant in the spotlight, which would have provided a lot of opportunities for corporate satire, which didn’t really come throguh in the movie with the imperative to keep the big G on side.
What’s good about the film, apart from the laughs, is that it centres itself on the financial struggles of the everyday man, which is a big factor in the real world these days with the state of the global financial situation. This makes it fairly relevant and approachable, but equally it doesn’t really go far enough with the concept to make it really engaging. There could have been a little more serious acting and pathos thrown into the mix to take the film from just being a simple gag converyor to being a smart comedy.
There’s a little romance added to the fringes of the storyline with Nick (Wilson) trying his luck with the seemingly out of reach Google manager Dana Simms, played pretty well by Rose Byrne (I Give It A Year). We’re always going to be taken with the “boy goes for unobtainable girl” storyline, but again more could have been made of this to bring the characters and the story to life.
Will Farrell (The Lego Movie) puts in a pretty funny cameo as Nick’s out of order brother-in-law Kevin and John Goodman (Argo) has a fleeting role as Billy and Nick’s former boss, Sammy, before their company crashing downfall.
Wilson and Vaughn are as good as ever in the comedy roles with a lot of funny lines, but their natural charm isn’t quite enough to hide all of the cracks. However, as the story, co-writer and co-producer credits go to Vaughn too he gets the brunt as well as the kudos of our review.
The Internship DVD probably isn’t one for many home entertainment collections out there, but if you’re looking for a light-hearted comedy and don’t mind the excesses of product placement then it’s a fun rental. If you want to add a little extra spice to the comedy mix, you can always go for the unrated version of the DVD, which is a little funnier, but not necessarily for the right reasons.
The Internship DVD review: 2.8/5
