For every great movie Robert De Niro does, he does 50 terrible ones to go right with it.

“The Intern,” directed by Nancy Meyers and starring Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway, is one of the many recent De Niro movies to skip.

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The script talks about one idea, then shoves it down the audience’s throat. It doesn’t matter that it needs to tell an engaging and well-thought out story, it will continue to shove the message down your throat.

“The Intern” is obsessed with putting down the “Facedown Generation.” They hit at this idea so much it derails the film severely.

If it is not jokes about Facebook and people looking at their phones too much, it is Hathaway’s character questioning the manhood of today’s men because they don’t look like Harrison Ford or Jack Nicholson. 

The movie attacks this generation any chance it gets, and really puts a damper on any good thing the film does.

A precocious kid who says adult things and an older man not understanding new fads help bring “The Intern” down even more. A few jokes hit, but this comedy is mostly unfunny.

The one spot this film succeeds with is its character work. When the movie is talking about people cheating on each other and the death of a significant other, it hits an emotional vibe.

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The scene between Hathaway’s Jules and De Niro’s Ben sitting in the hotel room, talking about issues, is the best part of the movie. It will hit the most stone cold of people and they will connect with the movie for brief second. But that’s it. 

Stars : 2.5 out 5

Jacob Pierce can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @JacobPierce1_DE.