Ben Whittaker is 70, retired and discovers that tai chi classes, learning a new language and visiting his grand-kids isn't all it's cracked up to be, so he turns to a new challenge - being "The Intern" at a New York fashion start-up. Feeling ignored and obsolete is hardly a problem that afflicts veteran actor Robert De Niro, who plays Whittaker in the comedy, out in U.S. movie theaters on Friday. But the double Oscar winner says the film is a "love letter to our generation." As "The Intern," Whittaker joins Facebook for the first time and ends up teaching his 20-something co-workers more than they teach him. De Niro said, "People getting older are kind of sidelined," but his character in the movie "has the kind of advice that only someone who has been on the planet a lot longer can give." Written and directed by Nancy Meyers and also starring Anne Hathaway, "The Intern" is a rare big-budget Hollywood hybrid of comedy, romance and drama that aims for multi-generational appeal without patronizing either baby-boomers or millennials. It's the most high-profile entry in a slew of recent films that celebrate the 50-plus crowd often ignored as movie studios target youth audiences with action-packed superhero fare.
