Robert DeNiro gives once of his better performances in recent times as Ben Whittaker, a retired widower who is bored with life out of the work place so he applies for a position on a senior intern programme with an e-commerce company which was founded and is being run by Jules Ostin (Anne Hathaway) a driven go-getter type who never seems to have a minute in her schedule. Ben is assigned as her aide but she has no time to deal with such trivialities, so he is left on the side lines waiting to be advised of what is expected of him.

But Ben is not the type of guy to sit twiddling his thumbs so slowly but surely he starts to notice small things that he can assist with outside of Jules’ remit and his younger colleagues soon realise that technology is no match for life experience and Bens alertness to the personal needs of his career, his colleagues and, eventually, the boss turn him into a father figure for the company.

DeNiro does a great job underplaying his great talent in a rare role as a normal, run of the mill character who cares far more than he should about his new career and new friends that he has made. Yes, there are a lot of run of the mill plot threads such as Jules’ kid who takes a shine to Ben, the struggling boss trying to find a work/home life balance and the rekindling spark of love Ben finds with a co-worker but this is all against the back drop of a DeNiro performance which, while not classic, shows how he can hold centre stage with ease and there are flashes moments of why he is a legend of cinema, plus it’s nice to see a male-female relationship on screen which isn’t tinged with sexual tension or a will they/won’t they get together sub plot.

If you don’t think about the premise or plot too deeply then there’s a good chance you’ll be entertained by a very simple, yet effective movie and probably get the odd giggle along the way.

DJ Speaks Rating: 5.5 Out Of 10