The Internship

 

The Internship is a 2013 comedy about two guys, Nick (Owen Wilson) and Billy (Vince Vaughn) who lose their jobs as salesmen to the digital age. They want to prove that they can do more and work in the digital world, thus miraculously obtain internship positions at Google. All of the interns are put into teams, them being older and unqualified end up in the group of the most antisocial and oddball teenagers. At the end of the summer, the winning team wins full-time positions at the company. Their group is the underdog, unlikely to win and struggles to be a team, but Nick and Billy bring the team together and teach them how to let loose and have fun.




I loved this film, it is really fun and quirky. I think the concept is really clever and the dynamic between the characters is really sweet. In the beginning, the teenaged interns in the group don’t make an effort to get to know each other and ultimately feel defeated before they even start because they are stuck with Nick and Billy who don’t know anything about technology. By the end of the film, the three teens learn communication and social skills from Nick and Billy and in return, they teach them about the digital world.




I like the way the characters are all very different from each character and each has their own unique personality and quirks. My favourite character was Stuart played by Dylan O’Brien, who was kind of rude, sarcastic, and always stared at his phone. I like how he absolutely loathes everyone at the start but at the end learns to take in the world around him more and develops an almost father-son bond with Nick and Billy. Yo-Yo played by Tobit Raphael, has strict parents who expect a lot of him and at the end we see him stand up to them, showing that he has gained some confidence from the internship experience. Then you have Neha who is very outgoing and peppy, she is a really fun character and I think Tiya Sircar who I had never seen before this role portrayed her beautifully. Then there is Lyle played by Josh Brener who is the leader of the group who pushed for them to take on Nick and Billy into the internship program. I had seen Josh Brener in Silicon Valley before this and his character is just really funny and I liked the comedic dynamic between Lyle and Stuart.




The film is really sweet the way they all come together in the end as kind of a family. I wasn’t expecting much from this film but the story was really well done. I like the story arc and the overall character development throughout the film. The setting of the film is really interesting because it was not actually shot at Google's headquarters in California, but in Atlanta at the Georgia Institute of Technology. I found that the film would have easily fooled you into thinking it was Google’s headquarters as it is very convincing, which says a lot for their production design team and their ability to replicate the building. 




What is interesting about this film is it also acts as a 2-hour advertisement for Google starring Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn, and Dylan O’Brien. That is pretty amazing. The film is really cool in that respect because the different challenges and the setting showcase different aspects of working at a big tech company. Google-related products and Google's colour scheme can also be seen everywhere throughout the film. Even the title for the film features the Google logo lettering and colours. Working with a big company like this is smart not only for Google but for the film itself because everyone knows Google. It is something people are familiar with and uses every day. They can connect with it in comparison to if they used a made-up company.




To wrap up, I enjoyed this film a lot and it was really funny and fun to watch. It is one of those feel-good movies that just leave you feeling happy. I loved the cast and the cameos from bigger stars like Will Pharrel and Josh Gad. The characters are so much fun to watch and I really liked their development throughout the film. Going into this movie I looked at its Rotten Tomatoes score of 35% and thought it wasn’t going to be that good, but I was pleasantly mistaken. It is a great film and I highly recommend it. The film is available to rent on Amazon Prime, Youtube, and Apple. So side note can we get this film on Netflix, please?