So I watched The Internship…

There’s just something about seeing a ragtag group of misfits that no one expects anything from rise to success. It’s a story that we’ve seen a hundred times before but The Internship does a great job setting itself apart from the rest of the pack.

Okay, basic plot: Billy (Vince Vaughn) and Nicky (Owen Wilson) are veteran salesmen who have just lost their jobs after the company they work for shuts down. Even though they have no technological experience, the pair decide that it would be a good idea to go and work for Google. They manage to land two spots in a coveted Internship programme and must use their people skills and undeniable charm to compensate for their glaring lack of computer skills.

The best thing about this movie is Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn. I love their style of comedy and the emphasis they place on witty dialogue and comedic presence rather than slapstick tomfoolery. They first showed off their comedic chemistry in Wedding Crashers and nearly a decade after that hit, it’s obvious their comedic charm hasn’t waned. This film highlights the comedic talents of both actors but I think this is  truly a Vince Vaughn film. Vaughn developed the story, co-wrote the script and produced the film and his comedic energy is present throughout this film. This film is all about sharp, witty dialogue with barbs of sarcasm and intelligent comebacks. This is the kind of comedy that I enjoy seeing the most.

This film boasts quite a talented cast with both known and unknown actors putting in some really humorous work. Rose Byrne has a small supporting role as Wilson’s character’s love interest and she dazzles as always. The thing I love most about Byrne is her consistency. I’ve seen her in comedies, horrors, epic action movies and she always delivers a high level of performance. Aasif Mandvi also puts in a delightful performance as Mr Chetty – the stern member of management who doesn’t believe that Billy and Nicky’s goal is plausible let alone possible. Mandvi has this great dead-pan style of delivering his humour which I loved and perfectly suited the grumpy persona of Chetty.

I mentioned earlier how much I love stories about a group of underdogs who rise to success and this film is a perfect example of that. There’s wonderful sense of progression in this story. Character development is often an overlooked aspect of storytelling but this film doesn’t skimp on it. All the characters in this movie have something that they’re working towards or areas of their lives or personality they want to improve and we get to see the journey they take towards reaching these goals. I’m not talking about some deep philosophical journey where people work out their daddy issues but none of the characters (the main ones at least) are the same in the end as they were in the beginning. That’s the foundation of a good story – progression.

I’ve watched this film a few times now and I can’t find anything I didn’t like. Its jokes still hit the mark, its characters are still enjoyable and I’m always entertained. If you haven’t watched this movie yet, I suggest you get to it because it really is a lot of fun 8/10