Robert De Niro excels as a lonesome widower in Nancy Meyers’ quirky yarn about intern life in the ultra-hip creative world of… Brooklyn?

Ol’ Bobby Milk stars opposite the enchanting Anne Hathaway, whose start-up dotcom shopping company has taken over her life, leaving the snappy career woman’s family out in the cold. A central twist is provided by 70-year-old Ben, a personal intern to Hathaway’s Jules, flipping traditional generational roles.

Unfortunately, The Intern strains so hard to engage with its target audience of cool media types that its two strong performances end up mired in stomach-churning ‘meta-references’ to Instagram.

A well-acted and sometimes moving tale of friendship and life lessons is let down by its own burgeoning desire to appear ‘with it’. Watch for Bobby, on top form again.

RATING: 3/5

INFORMATION

STARRING: Robert De Niro, Anne Hathaway, Rene Russo

DIRECTOR: Nancy Meyers

WRITER: Nancy Meyers

SYNOPSIS: 70 year-old widower Ben (De Niro) becomes a senior intern at an online fashion site, founded and run by Jules (Hathaway).