The Internship: 3.5 stars out of 5

The fact that this film has a Quidditch game in it already makes it worthwhile.

For those of you that are not avid Harry Potter fans, The Internship is still worth watching, since it actually has nothing to do with Harry Potter.

Billy (Vince Vaughn) and Nick (Owen Wilson) are two talented salesmen who lose their jobs, and as a result, apply for and (improbably) manage to land themselves internships at Google. They must compete against a bunch of young and power hungry interns for permanent jobs. It does not help that they end up with a group of ‘leftovers’—the most socially inept of the bunch. However, their group is able to bond thanks to the encouragement Billy and Nick. To watch the group go from dysfunctional to best friends is truly touching to watch. All the members of the team are insecure in some way and by spending time with Billy and Nick, they were able to overcome their insecurities and accept who they are.

In this sense, the movie is a bit clichéd, but not necessarily in a bad way—stories about underdogs rising to a challenge, however predictable, are still fun.

Vaughn plays a comedic role in all his work, and this film is no exception. What makes this movie different though is Vaughn and Wilson’s chemistry on screen, as the two previously starred together in The Wedding Crashers. Their gullibility and foolishness had me laughing from start to end. A highlight would be when, in an effort to get them to go away, their teammates send them on a hunt for a Professor Charles Xavier, whom they believe to be real. If any of you readers don’t know who Professor Xavier is, I can say that I am truly disappointed in you.

This leads into another perk of this movie I enjoyed: the “geek” references, from Quidditch games to X-Men to anime. Those of you who do not understand these references may have a few less laughs, so I would suggest studying up if you want to get the full experience.

What made this movie truly stand out, however, was its appeal to modern economic attitudes. It is harder than ever for fresh-out-of-college students to get a job, and the film plays up that aspect by showing the lengths to which students will go for just a job, as well as by pairing the more optimistic Billy and Nick with a group of harried, overly competitive 20-somethings. We live in a world where young adults are focused on moving forward in life and as a result, they can disregard those that have come before them—as well as forget to actually live their lives along the way to success. Billy and Nick show the kids that the older generation still has much left to teach them, because sometimes, a little life experience is actually the best teacher.

The Internship is directed by Shawn Levy and stars Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson, Rose Byrne and Aasif Maandvi.

Jennifer Sun can be contacted at [email protected]