6.9 | / 10 |
Users | 4.2 | |
Reviewer | 3.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
70-year-old widower Ben Whittaker has discovered that retirement isn't all it's cracked up to be. Seizing an opportunity to get back in the game, he becomes a senior intern at an online fashion site, founded and run by Jules Ostin.
Starring: Robert De Niro, Anne Hathaway, Rene Russo, Anders Holm, JoJo KushnerComedy | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
French (Canada): Dolby Digital 5.1
Spanish: Dolby Digital 5.1 (640 kbps)
Portuguese: Dolby Digital 5.1
English SDH, French, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (1 BD, 1 DVD)
UV digital copy
DVD copy
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 3.5 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 1.5 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
Nancy Meyers makes Hollywood fantasies, which puts her in a venerable tradition dating back to
the early days of the movie business. Classic comedies of the studio system, the kind that Woody
Allen parodied in
The Purple Rose of Cairo, were routinely
set in beautifully designed rooms
inhabited by characters whose lives were glossier, prettier and, after the requisite conflicts,
happier than most of ours. A key ingredient in the mix were those rarefied creatures known as
"movie stars", who were among the most valuable properties of the old studio system. The effort
and expense expended to create and maintain "stars" were legendary.
The star system may be gone, and time and technology have given "fantasy" a different
connotation (usually something involving science fiction, graphic novels or Middle Earth), but a
few practitioners of the old-school formula remain. Meyers is one of them, and she does it well
enough to succeed repeatedly with audiences, even as her particular brand of fantasy has become
passé with the critical establishment. One secret to Meyers' success is her ability to attract and
showcase established names who can sell tickets—the closest thing to a movie star these
days—by inserting them into roles that subvert their familiar personas.
Beginning with What Women Want in 2000, Meyers made a string of romantic comedies, each of
which put familiar faces into unfamiliar situations. What Women
Want
turned action star Mel
Gibson into a sensitive guy who could be bossed around by Helen Hunt. Something's Gotta Give
steered ladies man Jack Nicholson into monogamy with the help of an Oscar-nominated Diane
Keaton (and a timely heart attack). The Holiday gave
Jack Black—Jack Black!—a makeover into
a romantic lead who could be a suitable match for Kate Winslet, a feat made even more
remarkable because Black had to share the screen with Jude Law. It's Complicated turned a 60-year-old Meryl Streep into a sexual dynamo hotly pursued by both Alec Baldwin and Steve
Martin.
The Intern is Meyers' latest box office success, and it represents a new departure in her work.
The film contains romantic elements, but its primary subject is friendship, specifically friendship
across generations. Once again, Meyers has placed an icon in a role that cuts against his usual
image, casting the intense and intimidating Robert De Niro as a gentle company man who gets
along with everyone. Surrounding him with a mostly youthful cast led by Anne Hathaway,
Meyers draws from De Niro his most nuanced work in years as a self-described emotional "big
bowl of mush"—which is not a phrase that leaps to mind for the actor known for such intensely
adversarial characters as Travis Bickle, Jake La Motta and the comically paranoid Jack Byrnes
from the Fockers
trilogy.
The Intern was shot digitally on the Arri Alexa by cinematographer Stephen Goldblatt (The Help
and Get On Up). Post-production was completed on a
digital intermediate, from which Warner's
1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray was presumably sourced by a direct digital path. Goldblatt's
lighting complements Meyers' prettified world, showcasing the meticulous set design, the
expressive costumes and, above all, the actors' faces to best advantage. The Blu-ray image is
sharply detailed and brightly colorful, making Brooklyn look its best both indoors and out.
Blacks are solid, contrast is pleasing, and the colors are richly saturated without over-emphasis.
No anomalies, noise or other artifacts appeared.
The division of Warner Home Video that handles new releases seems to be lagging behind the
catalog division and Warner Archive Collection, because The Intern has been mastered with a
bitrate of only 22.11 Mbps, even though over 15 gigabytes of space remain unused on the BD-50.
Compression issues were not evident, but obviously there are still some corners of the Warner
organization where the message about maximizing bitrate has yet to penetrate.
The Intern features a low-key but effective 5.1 soundtrack, encoded on Blu-ray in lossless DTS-HD MA. The mix provides a nice sense of immersion in the headquarters of ATF, where the steady hum of activity and the sound of chiming iPhones is everywhere. Occasionally there's a loud enough moment to display the track's dynamic range (a memorable one involves Busta Rhymes "Break Ya Neck" at high volume), but otherwise the mix is restrained. Dialogue is clear throughout, and the gently reassuring score by Theodore Shapiro (Tropic Thunder) is complemented by well-chosen pop selections ranging from "Boogie Shoes" to "The Girl from Ipanema".
Warner has provided only a meager selection of extras.
The Intern may not appeal to everyone, but it grossed $194 million worldwide on a production
budget of $35 million, confirming yet again that an audience for Meyers' fairy tale style of
comedy still exists. But fairy tales don't connect unless they contain an element of truth, and
beneath the glossy surface of Meyers' work, there's always a real-life foundation that prevents
the feel-good story from slipping into sentimentality. A paragon like Ben Whittaker may be
impossible to find, but there are close enough equivalents in life, for those who bother to look up
from their screens and pay attention. The Intern Blu-ray may be short on extras, but it's a solid
presentation of an increasingly rare sort of filmmaking and therefore recommended.
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