Before seeing THE INTERNSHIP, it finally dawned on myself that I completely missed a huge gaffe in its trailer. The biggest joke the trailer editor could end with was to feature the scene where Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson are conned by their arrogant team-members into locating Professor Xavier at Stanford, only for the two to find one matching his description and to be humiliated for their lack of testicular fortitude. It stupidly took myself quite a while to notice the fact that these two characters somehow never grew up with X-Men comics during their 70's childhood, had a peak at the animated series during the 90's, and removed themselves from the entertainment world entirely when the X-MEN film franchise (including one released two years ago!) stormed theaters.
THE INTERNSHIP is extremely unfunny, which makes the full two-hour running time even more worse to bear. It also rests on the severe traits of its three male heads of the picture: producer/co-writer/main actor Vince Vaughn showcases his obnoxious, egotistical side constantly over his supposed best bud Owen Wilson, who again doesn't do much besides his usual quirky aloofness and nose talking, and director Shawn Levy returns to his crass mediocrity that everyone expects of his talents. Just when you thought it can't get any worst, you remember that you are sitting through a glorified commercial for a internet search engine that is "changing the world" and making a better life, yet has their interns play real-life Quidditch to determine their job qualifications and to see them grab a golden ball strapped on to an effeminate man. I can even put a rancid cherry atop on this hateful sundae because it's a pretty foul film with a PG-13 rating, obviously edited down from its rated-R target but somehow retaining all of their risque jokes.
Vaughn and Wilson, let's face the fact that they neither truly act as a character, find out that they lost their pompous watch salesman jobs because these kooky kids nowadays use their phones for time. I guess fashion doesn't exist with watches. White, middle-aged and believing that their b.s. talk can't give them another job, which is incredibly false, they get themselves enrolled into an internship at Google, the sunshines-and-lollipops company where everything is complimentary at the food shops and you can take a slide down to the first floor. Other than continue existing as a thumbs-up p.r. tool, the film then rehashes the 80's stable of slobs vs. snobs, where the duo teams up with a group of stereotypes (nerdy girl, disgruntled hipster, masochistic Asian, hip-hop white boy) to face off against the snooty British ass-kisser (Max Minghella) for future jobs at the company. They also try to win the respect of their stern headmaster Mr. Chetty (Aasif Mandvi) and show that excellent social and real-world skills can tronce those un-evolved young adults who can't talk normally and hide behind computers.
The so-called famed WEDDING CRASHERS duo is unbearable together here, with the hammer falling harder on Vaughn. Their eccentric exchanges are either ear-splitting nonsense or flat deliveries; I nearly wanted to scream back at the screen during their tirade at the "find the bug" challenge. Wilson at least gets to be quiet and dignified later but Vaughn just will not shut up or stop showing off. He deliberately wants this to be his show alone and he fails hard. The only thing able to keep the film hanging a millimeter away from hitting the bottom of the barrel is the other cast-members. Dylan O'Brien, Tiya Sircar, Tobit Raphael, Max Minghella and Jessica Szohr all give their best at their roles, sometimes given the spotlight to display a nice warmth to them. Then, there's the talented and lovely Rose Byrne, who gets to speak in her native tongue as a Google supervisor who is wooed by Wilson. She gets some pleasant little moments, able to shine some much needed energy and try to make the jokes seem to be comedy gold. However, she is unfortunate to have a character perfect for Lifetime: a woman who has placed her time only on work and not on men and making babies.
I was not surprised that this male-dominated comedy, let alone anchored by Vince Vaughn, would feature sneering portrayals of women. According to the film, women are covertly sexual and/or have perverted thoughts, date douchebags, rely on their physical beauty to advance, overbearing punishers, or are literally a stripper. To make the film doubly weird and easily show the negative light, Vaughn constantly encourages everyone with the story of FLASHDANCE, to see themselves as Alex and to keep their hopes alive, yet still brings them all, including the sole girl of the group, to celebrate at a Chinese stripclub. That's the only true laugh of the film, that a sequence at a stripclub is in a PG-13 movie. You can tell that alternate shots are placed in the cut and shots were blurred out to maintain the strict limitations of the rating. The MPAA also thought that jokes such as a cameoing Will Ferrell dry-humping a customer, fisting, a mention of hentai, rampant ejaculation, and octogenarian gang bangs were suited as well.
You can tell how highly misguided the film is when it brings some reality to the table. There's a small scene where the college kids inform Vaughn and Wilson that their future is a dark unknown, that their college education will not easily grant them a job after finishing up their studies (that sounds familiar!). A whole generation that's cynical about what once was the American Dream. So what happens when the true victors at the end have their hands raised? All of the other competing men and women who just had their hopes dashed are applauding non-stop for those few. They deserve to remain in the background, to let their dreams die. That's unbecoming for a film that plays extensive lip-service to FLASHDANCE.
FINAL REVIEW: 1 / 5
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