‘The Internship’ Blu-ray Review

Stars: Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson, Rose Byrne, Aasif Mandvi, Max Minghella, Josh Brener, Dylan O’Brien, Tiya Sircar, Tobit Raphael, Josh Gad | Written by Vince Vaughn, Jared Stern | Directed by Shawn Levy

Billy (Vaughn) and Nick (Wilson) are salesmen whose careers have been torpedoed by the digital world. Trying to prove they are not obsolete, they defy the odds by talking their way into a coveted internship at Google, along with a battalion of brilliant college students. But, gaining entrance to this utopia is only half the battle. Now they must compete with a group of the nation’s most elite, tech-savvy geniuses to prove that necessity really is the mother of re-invention.

Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn, stars of The Wedding Crashers, re-team once again for yet another man-child comedy that we’ve come to expect from the duo – especially Vaughn, who seems to have made his career out of such films (Old School, Dodgeball, Four Christmases, Fred Claus etc., etc.).

But wait…

It may surprise you, but The Internship is actually worlds away from the likes of Wilson and Vaughn’s The Wedding Crashers, and whilst it may share a similar set-up as Old School – grown men ingratiating themselves on younger people – it shares none of the crude humour. In fact take out the gratuitous scene in the strip club and The Internship is a sweet-natured [almost] family friendly comedy that touches upon ideas of working together, self-respect and being yourself. Themes that echo the likes of John Hughes 80s work, only wrapped up in broader fish-out-of-water humour rather than saccharin-sweet sentimentality (although as with all “feel good” films that does creep in come the films denouement).

Of course at the same time, The Internship is one massive advert for Google, with product placement a-plenty, mention after mention about Google’s “charity” work and the companies “innovations”. But to be honest, I can forgive all that. You know what to expect with a film set in Google internship program – they’re obviously going to feature prominently, there’s no way around that – but that’s not why I can forgive the “advertorial” nature of the film. Nope. I can forgive all that because The Internship is s damn fine movie. Easily Vaughn’s best (and funniest) film since 2005’s Dodgeball. And Wilson? Well this ties Roy O’Bannon (Shanghai Noon/Knights) as his most likeable, toning down his annoying tone so much that for once I didn’t want to tell his character to piss off, or punch his character in the face! Even director Shawn Levy, who can be hit and miss at the best of times (Hello… The Pink Panther? Date Night? I could go on…) seems to have brought his A-game to the movie.

It helps that the supporting cast is so strong. Josh Brener, as the nerdy Lyle, is superb; as is Josh Gad as his fellow headphones-wearing outcast Google employee. And the rest of the Google-wannabes, the interns with which Wilson and Vaughn’s characters must work are just as great – with the actors (Dylan O’Brien, Tiya Sircar, Tobit Raphael) managing to give a little depth to what are essentially two-dimensional stereotypes.

I honestly didn’t expect anything from The Internship. Maybe that’s why it succeeded in winning me over. Or maybe it’s because this is one of the funniest comedies I seen in some time. After all, laughing out loud never lies…

The Internship is released on DVD and Blu-ray on November 11th.