The Intern (2015)

Picture the calmest seventy-year-old you know, hand him a briefcase, and drop him into a Brooklyn startup where everyone else is panicking in hoodies. That’s the whole fantasy, and the movie never pokes at it. Robert De Niro’s Ben is wise, kind, handy, punctual and right about everything, which is lovely and a little boring. Nobody is that perfect, not even in a Nancy Meyers movie, where every kitchen looks like a magazine shoot. Anne Hathaway does the heavy lifting as Jules, a founder spinning too many plates, and their friendship is genuinely sweet. The trouble is the second half. A goofy break-in subplot wanders in from some other movie, and the film treats every younger man like he’s never ironed a shirt. Rene Russo is charming in a small role. It made $194.8 million worldwide on a reported $35M. A 6.2 because it’s a warm blanket of a movie with zero edges. $11.86 says you tuck in your shirt tomorrow for no reason and walk around like you run the place.

What works: De Niro and Hathaway have an easy, sweet friendship, and Ben’s quiet competence is genuinely fun to watch.

What doesn’t: Ben is too perfect to be interesting, and the second half wanders into a silly break-in and a clumsy marriage subplot.

Who it’s for: Anyone who wants a cozy weekend movie, and anyone who’s ever wished their office had one calm grown-up in it.