'The Internship': What do two real-life interns think of the movie?

“The Internship" stars Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson and chronicles the adventures of two middle-aged salesmen who score internships at Google. It recently raked in a little more than $18 million during its opening weekend. Monitor critic Peter Rainer gave it a C-, noting that "there’s a potentially good comedy to be made about old-school guys trying to make a go of it in a youth-dominated digital marketplace" but that the movie squanders its promising premise.

But how would two real-life interns feel about the film? Two Monitor interns, Colby Bermel and Casey Lee, decided to check out the movie this past weekend. Here they discuss the film, life lessons as imparted by Vaughn and Wilson, and PB&J sandwiches.

Colby Bermel: I was very excited to see this movie. When I saw the trailer a few months ago, I cried tears of joy for two reasons. One, the return of Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson. And two, the whole premise of the movie, which really tickled my fancy.

Casey Lee: I don’t know, Colby. I wasn’t that excited when I heard about it. I don’t think Vince Vaughn is that funny. I also pretty much hated “Wedding Crashers.” I was excited to see Stiles from “Teen Wolf” have a movie moment! But it was good timing, seeing as I am an intern at the moment. Since a group of friends were going, I figured it was a good time to be social.

Colby: Yes, being social is always a good thing. Wait, who’s Stiles? And what is “Teen Wolf”? Apparently I'm unaware of what's on TV these days.

Casey: “Teen Wolf” was a movie in the olden days, like, when our parents were young-ish. But now it’s a show on MTV and I secretly LOVE it. Stiles is the best friend to the main character; he is brilliant and super funny.

Colby: Speaking of funny, “The Internship” was funny – somewhat. It had its moments, most of which were shown in the trailer. Gosh, why did I have to watch that trailer? They always use the best jokes for them.

Casey: Curse our curiosity! I agree, it did have funny moments. I’m not upset that I spent all that cash to see it, but it’s not one that I’m going to see again or buy.

Colby: But you must admit that the whole premise of the movie was excellent. Vince Vaughn penned it himself. Two buddies in an unfamiliar environment, especially that of Google, is destined for hilarity and life lessons. But it turns out there wasn’t much hilarity. And there were WAY too many life lessons; they were incredibly corny, to say the least.

Casey:  It is pretty impressive that Vince Vaughn came up with the idea. I felt that there was a fairly equal balance of corny and funny, so that worked out okay. Not to mention the bad guy got what was coming to him. That part definitely made me smile. He was extremely irksome. What did you learn from the film, Colby?

Colby: I learned everything there is to know about the life of a dancing girl from a Pennsylvania steel town. Still can’t remember what that movie’s called. Vince Vaughn really likes it, apparently, with all of his references to it. What’s it called, Casey?

Casey: We’ll have to Google it.

Colby: Casey! No! Don’t surrender to the movie’s product placement!

Casey: Too late. I Googled. Just what I thought, the multiple references he made was to the 1983 movie “Flashdance.”

Colby: Oh, thanks. Wait, wait, wait. Aren’t we supposed to be talking about “The Internship” in the context of our own internships here at the Monitor?

Casey: They're nothing alike. Google has free food. I have to go home and get a PB&J. The movie was very inspiring, though. According to Vaughn and Wilson, if you are nice to your co-workers and funny, you'll get a job no matter what, which I found comforting as a current college student.

Colby: Agreed. Case closed.

Colby Bermel and Casey Lee are Monitor contributors.