Laugh out loud fun

I had always dreamed of working at Google. I remember my university years when I used to search for potential jobs at the company that I could pursue once I had completed my degree.

I had imprinted in my memory the different facilities they offered, the salaries they paid and, most importantly, all the fun that employees mentioned in their testimonials.

However, that dream seemed out of reach in my final year, since I wasn’t as tech savvy (or brainy) as I needed to be and I found too much energy was wasted on something that was so far-fetched.

Apparently, I should have continued to dream. My imagination wasn’t far from reality, well … according to The Internship anyway. It looks as though even a couple of unemployed, uneducated and ‘untechnical’ idiots have a chance at nabbing a spot at the search engine giant.

Yes, the movie is predictable and clichéd, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t funny and enjoyable.

I was not expecting to like this movie at all, but I was pleasantly surprised. It was hilarious and the Vince Vaughn-Owen Wilson duo did not disappoint.

Sure, they were softer this time around and have lost their edge since Wedding Crashers, but they’re older now, more mature and had to act like normal boring people trying to make it in this harsh world.

The film features an obvious romantic sub-plot concerning Wilson and a ‘nerdy’ looking Rose Byrnes who plays Dana. The romance aspect proved to be bland and overdone … but, with every comedy comes its comedy tropes, so you can’t get mad at director Shawn Levy for sticking to what the genre is known for.

However, I was looking for something a little spicier. The romance just didn’t work. Whenever it was on screen I wanted the film to get back to the part where it focused on Google and its interns.

Vaughn and Wilson play Billy McMahon and Nick Campbell. These two salesmen are the best at what they do. However, when it comes to selling in a digital age, their employer shuts down the company they work for and the two are left jobless.

After struggling to find work, with Nick selling mattresses and Billy undergoing a foreclosure, the two talk their way into highly coveted internships at Google.

They compete with teams of tech-savvy college students who are fighting for a full-time job.

Various groups must undergo a set of challenges and the last remaining team are rewarded with full-time employment.

There’s just one problem – Billy and Nick are too old and technologically out- of-touch. So, they band together with a group of misfits to win the jobs of their dreams.

The misfit team are the underdogs and the ones viewers root for (just like any other movie). Of course, out of the hundreds of other teams they compete against, the audience are really only introduced to the arrogant team.
 
After a number of embarrassing incidents, old vs young clichés and unexpected friendships, the group finds a balance between the old school techniques to selling and the modern digital age.

This is an example of a Google commercial now in a 119-minute format. The film is definitely funded by Google, showcasing the company to be the haven of anything technological. Food is free, stairs don’t exist and nap pods are the way forward for this company. It is everything any employee wishes he or she had.

Vaughn and Wilson were both perfect choices for the roles. They play the characters they usually do but it worked.
Vaughn is a fast-talking machine, which is ideal for a salesman and Wilson works with his likeable and innocent persona to get the viewers on his side.

Both are portrayed as really nice guys with perfect comic timing producing lol (laugh out loud) moments.

Google executive Dana and intern programme leader Chetty (Aasif Mandvi) prove to be the true experts that drive the plot and motivate the team but it’s the ‘Nooglers’ (new Google interns) that provide the most interesting, entertaining and heartfelt moments throughout.

I don’t think I would ever buy this movie on DVD but I had plenty of fun. It did teach me to cut my parents some slack when they struggle to send out an email … you never know, one day they might be running Google.