Movie Review: The Intern..very much ‘with the times’

The times, they certainly are ‘a-changing’ given the setting of the movie The Intern, but the heartening thing is that instead of repressing, resisting or questioning these changes, it openly embraces them. A little too openly even and that is still a good thing.

While it boasts a great performance from veteran Robert De Niro and a decent performance from the gorgeous Anne Hathaway, the real reason to watch ‘The Intern’ is its intent and purpose – the message it wishes to convey. While there has been a lot of talk around the changing workplace, ageing demographics, gender equality and the start up buzz, few movies put it all into perspective ever so neatly as The Intern does – for that alone, it is worth your time.

The start of the movie is particularly impressive, as it sets the context so beautifully, that it raises expectations of what is to follow. That said, the movie does tend to slump every now and then but thankfully it gets right back up either with some madcap comedy or a major revelation, that keeps your attention going. You could still find several faults with the story progression – of over-simplifying things, of being just a feel-good movie or of not having very well etched out characters – and you would be right. Still, that is not where the essence of this movie lies

Its no Devil Wears Prada but it has its own charm and freshness. There’s a lot of subtle and understated social commentary – the kind that’ll bring a wry smile to your face every now and then, as you recognize the message. The movie doesn’t take many things to a defined closure, the kind you’ll expect in a movie like this and that’s precisely what brings a freshness to the proceedings. The ending is one that convinces you of what really the director is choosing to do and I thought that was just right.

Robert De Niro is in fine form and graces the screen with his presence each time. Anne Hathaway looks spectacular (special credits to the costume design for this one) but her performance is a little erratic. The two together though, really complement each other.

Kudos for Meyers to taking up such a topic and giving it such beautiful treatment. I have no reason not to recommend this one to you – if you are a teenager or a young adult whose reality is the kind shown in the movie, a career man/ woman who loves what they do for a living or even, no especially, if you are retired, confused about the new generation taking over and wondering what’s next – each of you will find something fresh and new to take away from The Intern.

Movie Review: Black Mass..is dead weight

Few of my reviews have such short and not-so-sweet titles. However, when you’ve just seen a movie like Black Mass this stuff happens naturally. There are few, if any, reasons I would recommend watching a movie like Black Mass. After a drought filled month with nothing remotely good to beckon one to the cinemas, the combination of Johnny Depp and Benedict Cumberbatch seemed promising. However, the dull and dreary literal biography that is Black Mass has only deepened the disappointment and one wishes that the drought had simply continued instead.

Have you heard about a guy named James ‘Whitey’ Bulger? If you have, then maybe this movie could be of some interest to you. For the rest of us, you’ll wonder who this guy is and why was it anybody’s worth to make this film throughout the runtime of 2 hours and 2 minutes – since the director has chosen to tell us about it right at the very end. I am not even concerned about ‘giving anything away’ because this entire movie doesn’t have any stuff like that – and yet they managed to drag it to its agonizing 2 hours and 2 minutes

Don’t be surprised if you are heavily tempted to leave the theater mid-way at the interval stage. I would urge you to resist that temptation though, since after having endured what you do in a boring and conversation filled first half, where you’ll look at the watch at least a dozen times, post interval things at least start getting somewhat interesting. There are 3-4 sequences which will hold your attention and most of it is in the second half – the rest of it struggles to leave any mark.

I am not sure what director Scott Cooper was going for with his story build up around Bulger. I have seen Bollywood movies that have created more personality and allure around a gangster protagonist than this one does. Despite the big names, the casting seems like a miscast. Depp is heavily made up to look like Bulger which makes one wonder why it had to be Depp in the first place – its not like it’s a majorly complex character that only he could’ve pulled off. Cumberbatch has such a minor role that I am not sure why he accepted in the first place. Joel Edgerton, does a decent job as John Connolly who in my view, is the other main character in this story

And…well, that’s it. I have nothing more to tell you. If you can’t resist temptation the two line description of the movie on IMDB summarizes exactly what you’ll get to watch over 2 hours. I normally wouldn’t advise you to sneak a peek at it, but in this case I’ll make an exception. I think its time well saved.