Intern, The (Blu-ray) (2015)

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General		Extras
Category	Comedy Drama	Featurette-Making Of-3
Rating
Year Of Production	2015
Running Time	121:21
RSDL / Flipper	Dual Layered	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	4	Directed By	Nancy Meyers
Studio Distributor	Waverly Films Roadshow Home Entertainment	Starring	Robert De Niro Anne Hathaway Rene Russo
Case	?
RPI	$39.95	Music	Theodore Shapiro

Video		Audio
Pan & Scan/Full Frame	None	English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 English Descriptive Audio Dolby Digital 5.1 French Dolby Digital 5.1 German Dolby Digital 5.1 Italian Dolby Digital 5.1 Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1
Widescreen Aspect Ratio	1.78:1
16x9 Enhancement
Video Format	1080p
Original Aspect Ratio	1.85:1	Miscellaneous
Jacket Pictures	No
Subtitles	English for the Hearing Impaired French German for the Hearing Impaired Italian for the Hearing Impaired Spanish Dutch Danish Finnish Greek Icelandic Norwegian Swedish	Smoking	No
		Annoying Product Placement	No
		Action In or After Credits	No

     Nancy Meyers has had quite a successful career in Hollywood starting as a screenwriter back in 1980 on Private Benjamin. Subsequently she has directed a number of romantic comedies and other successful films including What Women Want, Somethings Gotta Give and The Parent Trap. This film, The Intern is her latest directorial and writing effort. It was successful at the box office and well received by audiences (even if the critical response was a little lukewarm).

     The story concerns a 70 year old widower, Ben (Robert De Niro), who has retired after a successful business career. He has been trying to keep his life busy and active including travelling, taking courses and more. Despite this effort he feels that his life is missing something especially since the death of his wife. He sees a flyer at a local store for an e-commerce company that is looking to hire senior interns to bring a different perspective to their business. The company sells clothing on the Internet and was started 18 months earlier by CEO, Jules (Anne Hathaway). It has been growing quickly and is suffering some growing pains despite being very successful. Ben is selected as a new intern and starts to understand the business. Jules is not a big fan of the idea of senior interns but agrees to take one of them as her personal intern to show leadership. She chooses Ben but basically tells him that she will have little for him to do as she can't be bothered to involve him. However, as their relationship develops and his skills and experience start to show, she starts to realise how much she needs him as a mentor and friend. Will the company, her marriage and her relationship with Ben survive the challenges to come?

     This is a sweet and heart-warming film which avoids many clichés you might expect. I was expecting a certain ending which seemed to be where the film was leading but this did not eventuate which I was certainly happy about. The film does end a little abruptly, however it certainly makes sense. The relationship between Hathaway and De Niro is believable and many of their scenes together work very well. There are some plot points and scenes which jar a little but in general the story flows amiably along. There are minor dramas but nothing major resulting in a feel good film about a male/female relationship which is different to the normal romantic ones. Rene Russo plays De Niro's love interest, Fiona, the office masseuse. I would also say the film is a bit longer than it needs to be at just over 2 hours. The acting is good without setting the world on fire. It is complemented by excellent production design as is normal for Nancy Meyer's films and a lovely score by Theodore Shapiro.

     If you are after gentle, heart-warming adult entertainment you could certainly do worse than this.

Video

     The video looks marvellous with wonderful colours, deep blacks and nice detail. It is sharp and clear throughout with excellent shadow detail. It is presented in 1.78:1 (the original aspect ratio being 1.85:1) at 1080p. There is some minor grain here and there but nothing overly noticeable.

     There are subtitles available in English for the Hearing Impaired and other languages which are very clear and easy to read.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     The audio is very good but due to the style of film doesn't set the world on fire. Technically, it is the Blu-ray standard of DTS HD-MA 5.1. There are also other tracks including an Audio Descriptive Dolby Digital 5.1 track and similarly lossy tracks in French, German, Italian and Spanish. The dialogue was easy to understand at all times. The surrounds and subwoofer do a good job with what they have to do. The music is given great presence and fills the room on this soundtrack. Otherwise the surrounds carry atmosphere and minor incidental noise.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

     There are three minor extras.

Menu

     The menu included a still photo and music.

Learning from Experience (4:46)

     Short featurette about the idea behind the film of a relationship between a man and woman that is not romantic. Includes interview snippets.

Designs on Life (6:07)

     Featurette on production design and Meyer's approach to what she wants.

The Three Interns (5:46)

     Featurette on the three young actors who play other interns alongside De Niro includes their thoughts on the film and acting with De Niro.

    The Blu-ray seems to be the same in all regions.

    The video quality is very good.

    The audio quality is very good.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall