At the turn of this century, they were most certainly the cool kids. The Frat Pack, a group that consisted of founding members Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson, Luke Wilson, Ben Stiller, Will Ferrell and Jack Black were Hollywood hot property, constantly popping up in each others films and producing some of the finest comedies to grace the screen.
No one can deny the impact that Anchorman has had or indeed, to a lesser extent, the cult classic Zoolander. However, just as soon a their star rose over the Hollywood hills, they were already in decline. With performances that were entirely too repetitive and predictable, film studios, and audiences, soon grew tired of the Frat Pack.
Struggling for new material, the pack spawned a new generation that were becoming far more successful with members like James Franco, Seth Rogen and the wonderful Steve Carell, who actually managed to prove their acting chops as well as providing the laughs.
However, the group insisted on flogging a dead horse, the result of which is the deplorable Internship.
Starring Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn, the film revolves around two washed-up sales guys who apply for a Google internship after the company they were employed by closes. The main plot line, in case you somehow miss it, is that Owen’s Nick and Vince’s Billy are too old to apply for the internship and know next to nothing about computers. How will they ever finish the internship programme? Will they become employed by the wonderful company? We are biting our nails in anticipation.
It is impossible to find a starting point to describe how bad this film actually is, but we can begin with the terrible stereotypes that the Internship peddles out for us. Sure, Billy and Nick are in their 40’s but it is actually impossible to imagine that they have never heard the word “online” before, a huge insult to a more mature audience, many of whom will actually be pretty technology savvy.
Then there is the terrible, awful, predictable script. There is no need to criticise it further besides stating it is overwhelming unfunny.
The director seems to have taken some sort of leave of absence while filming was actually underway, either that or he was so in awe of the Frat Pack that he has allowed them to improvise their scenes. A fatal decision. This is doubly disappointing when you realise the director is Shawn Levy whose last project was the reasonably fine Real Steel.
Then there’s the underdeveloped female characters, the overworked and lonely Dana played by Rose Byrne who is basically an insult to career women. Contrary to popular belief, not ever woman on the planet wants to just get married and have children, but that is not what the Internship would have you believe. No, women are only playing around with a career to find a husband. Similarly, the young Neha is written like she will only be fulfilled if she finds a boyfriend. Poor and two-dimensional female characters at their best.
Ironically, the main point that the Internship makes, that the two lead characters may be too old for Google carries over to the film itself, Wilson and Vaughn are too long in the game and their characters are poor, underdeveloped and not funny. There really is no new beginning for the Frat Pack, let’s just remember the good times.
An insult to all fond comedy fans everywhere, go to see this at your peril. How one film can make Google look sub-standard is quite an achievement in itself…
