The Internship

Overview

Is The Internship an ad for Google? Sure. Should you care? No, not really. Well not unless you use Bing, in which case, who the hell are you anyway? Stop reading this review and go back to Friendster.

Written by Jared Stern and Vince Vaughn (who also stars in, and produced, the film) it tells the story of two 40-somethings (Vaughn and Owen Wilson) who lose their jobs as salesmen and decide an internship at Google is their best chance for a new start. With the promise of employment for the top team of interns at the end of the summer, Vaughn and Wilson find themselves competing against an army of ultra-smart 21-year-olds, including those within their own team, as their age and lack of tech savviness see them quickly ostracised.

Even the staff at Google are largely suspicious or dismissive of the duo, especially the work-absorbed Rose Byrne (who comes complete with Australian accent and all). Slowly but surely, however, Vaughn and Wilson begin to win over their skeptics thanks to a handful of '80s movie references and some unbridled old-school enthusiasm.

It's been eight years since Vaughn and Wilson partnered up for the highly successful Wedding Crashers, and given the obvious charm of the duo it's remarkable it's taken this long to bring them back together. Both put in more subtle performances than audiences are accustomed to and the result makes for a far more enjoyable film. There's still some farce in there, and it's a tad too long, but by and large The Internship is a surprisingly old-fashioned and heartwarming comedy that invites you to indulge in barracking for the underdog.