Movie Review: The Internship
Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson coast through a terrible, though slightly amusing, generation gap comedy that proves just how out of touch the stars really are.
It’s kind of crazy to think that it’s been eight years since Vaughn and Wilson teamed up in the successful Wedding Crashers without ever capitalizing on the critical and box office success of the film. Especially when those are the types of comedies that have been ripe for direct, or indirect, sequels and spin-offs. Instead it’s taken until 2013 for the duo to team back up and, unfortunately, it’s a total and utter waste of time and talent. Directed by Shawn Levy (Night at the Museum) the film is a paint by numbers which tries — yes, tries — to capitalize on the changing technological, and consequently, social, and cultural landscape over the last plus-decade. Fans of Vaughn just doing his thing, which is basically just spitballing endless monologues, will find parts amusing but in the end it just manifests how behind the times everyone involved with film have become.
Vaughn, who also co-wrote the film, does have a few good jabs about how out of touch he is but it’s the kind of jokes that are so out of touch it comes full circle to, well, illustrate how out of touch Vaughn is. That’s to say, instead of gaining an insider’s understanding of new technology and working with that knowledge to gain some insight to the older generation that just can’t quite grasp it, it’s obvious that Vaughn, and by extension co-writer Jared Stern, Levy, and Wilson, really doesn’t grasp most of what the film tackles. Add to that that it’s basically a carbon copy of every early 2000’s comedy film, almost coming eerily close to the exact plot of Old School in which older men regress and team up with a group of young outcasts, and that there’s really nothing to the film other than the occasional amusing Vaughn or Wilson adlib. Really, there’s not much more to say about the film. Those who enjoy the comedic stylings of its stars will find moments of dumb humor to smile at, but what’s more frustrating is that this actually isn’t such a bad idea and it’s one that could have dug a bit deeper and really mined some comedic gold. Instead, it’s another Vince Vaughn comedy flop in a string of big flops that has one wondering just what Vaughn is thinking? He’s clearly still has his comedic chops, as does Wilson, but his choice of material, even that which he is making himself, is just so lazy, poor, and really, just terrible. Those hoping for another classic Vince Vaughn/Owen Wilson comedy should save their money, rewatch Wedding Crashers and hope that, one day, they finally make something worthwhile again.
Rating: 2 out of 5
