Tags
alice eve, anne hathaway, dirty weekend, matthew broderick, nancy meyers, neillabute, rene russo, robert de niro, some velvet morning, star trek into darkness, the devil wears prada, the intern, what did I watch this week?
Neil LaBute returns to the big screen with Dirty Weekend, the story of two colleagues (Matthew Broderick and Alice Eve) who are delayed in the Alburquerque airport due to bad weather on their way to a work presentation in Dallas. During the layover, this odd couple, who barely know the basics about each other, start to open up a bit more and some dark secrets get unveiled.
It’s the second time that LaBute casts Eve after Some Velvet Morning (watch this one, you’ll be surprised!) and again he centers the story in two individuals. Now, while I think Alice Eve is lovely, I feel that, unless she’s well-directed, she fails to deliver because the main focus is on her beauty (ahem, Star Trek Into Darkness) rather than on her craft. At the very beginning, her acting is quite slow and a bit forced but as the story progresses, it improves and outshines his co-star Broderick, correct but whiny at times that made me think of Woody Allen.
While the movie plays with some clichés like the typical bantering US vs. UK bantering on accents and education (Eve’s character Natalie is a Cambridge alumni), it’s quite refreshing to the see that first appearances of people and relationships can sometimes be deceiving.
Rating: **
Nancy Meyers has always empowered women in her movies and The Intern is no exception: young woman, leader of her own company, mother of a lovely girl and married to a charming fella who sacrifies his career for her to shine, but like in everything, there are some obstacles to overcome. Do not expect this movie to be Anne Hathaway’s revenge to The Devil Wears Prada. Jules Ostin is not Miranda Priestly despite she also works in the fashion business.
Meyers is also known to give great and refreshing roles to mature actors (in this case, Robert de Niro, fantastic and sweet as Jules’ senior intern, confidant and adviser; and Rene Russo, always a pleasure to watch). In the past 10 years, companies have decided that people in their early 50’s are old (what??) and are forced to retire early, so it’s great to see a movie encouraging companies to offer jobs to people from that range of age or further, who can offer plenty of experience, dedication and are not afraid to work hard to learn the new ways of working (De Niro’s old school vs. Hathaway’s and al casual digital school).
Overally, it’s a lovely and heartwarming movie. Really recommended!
Rating: ****