It’s been nearly a decade since Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson teamed up for the surprise comedy hit Wedding Crashers. Surprisingly, there was no sequel, leaving fans clamoring for another film from the pair. While The Internship isn’t nearly as funny as Wedding Crashers, Vaughn and Wilson’s chemistry is undeniable, making the film an okay way to spend a rainy Saturday night.
Billy McMahon (Vaughn) and Nick Campbell (Wilson) are successful wristwatch salesman, but when their company closes amidst the economic downturn, they’re suddenly jobless with no real marketable skills. Nick resigns himself to taking a job with his sister’s husband (Will Ferrell) at a mattress store, but Billy starts Googling job opportunities for people with no skills. Through a series of not particularly funny machinations, the two end up interns at tech giant Google. Placed in a group of other non-starters with questionable social skills, their futures look bleak. But what they lack in tech savvy, they make up for in real life experience, which proves invaluable during a series of team challenges designed to give the interns a chance to earn a job at the company.
It’s not hard to figure out where the story goes from there. While it’s been reported that Google didn’t pay a thing to be central to the plot, The Internship can’t help but come off as an extended infomercial for the company. Written by Jared Stern and Vaughn himself, The Internship manages to touch on the cynicism felt by today’s youth. Unfortunately, the film is rather dull in its execution; both Vaughn and Wilson have proven they can do better than this material offers up. Your level of enjoyment in The Internship will likely depend on your nostalgia for Wedding Crashers and the reteaming of Vaughn and Wilson. This is a duller version of the earlier film, lacking any genuinely memorable moments. The two actors show their oft seen man-child personalities, one losing a romantic relationship the other, suffering from a severe case of commitment phobia.
By no means a terrible film, The Internship is one of those comedies that really doesn’t do anything to distinguish itself from the various other genre offerings that come out each year. Unless you’re a real diehard fan of Vaughn and Wilson, Netflix or a rental will probably suffice for this one.
Presented in the 2.35:1 aspect ratio, sharpness is a tad more inconsistent than one might expect. Color is well handled throughout, with a realistic look. Skin tones look natural, and black levels are good. Contrast is consistent.
The DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 sound mix effectively engages the front and rear channels. Ambient sounds appear occasionally, but aren’t consistent throughout the soundfield; instead, they tend to reside in the front speakers. Dialogue has been well recorded and has been placed in the center channel.
English, English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Danish, Estonian, Finnish, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Russian, Swedish, and Ukrainian subtitles are available.
The following extras are included:
- Theatrical (1:59:25) and Unrated (2:05:01) Versions of the Film
- Audio Commentary with Director Shawn Levy is available on the theatrical cut only. Levy discusses the long process of bringing the film together, and as he puts it the “double edged sword” of using the real Google for most of the film’s on location shoot.
- Deleted Scenes (HD, 8:26) Eight in all, which may be watched individually or as a montage.
- Any Given Monday (HD, 17:52) A faux documentary about the Quidditch Match.
- Theatrical Trailer (HD, 2:26)
- DVD/Digital Copy: Disc and instruction sheet enclosed in the package.