With the recent exception of “Masterminds” (as in recent to me- the movie came out 9 years ago and I saw it last month), I’ve never met an Owen Wilson character I didn’t like. I’ve always found him generally likable, but a bit more since seeing Midnight in Paris.
This movie was promoted as the much anticipated reunion of him with his Wedding Crasher partner-in-crime Vince Vaughn. The end result… maybe didn’t meet expectations but even with its flaws I found it enjoyable. We have the DVD in our shorehouse movie collection so we see it at least once a year.
The initial premise- the duo are businessmen who sell watches and they awkwardly learn on a sales call that they no longer have jobs. (By the way- this probably the best use you’ll ever see of “Ironic” by Alanis Morissette in media).
Because of this, Vince Vaughn loses his girlfriend and his house (as well as some of the audience’s respect over his idiotic pronunciation of Barcelona). Owen Wilson isn’t much better off, selling mattresses for Will Ferrell (who definitely has a sexual harassment lawsuit in his future with how inappropriate he is with his “hotter” customers).
Suddenly Vince Vaughn has an epiphany… the two of them can participate in Google’s internship program, which is a gateway to full time employment.
Their interview scene to get accepted into this program is a good showcase of this movie’s writing, both the good and the… for lack of a better word, annoying. Some jokes throughout the movie either do too good of a job showing how clueless these guys are about how technology works or they just run way too long.
They do their interview via Skype (dating this movie a bit... Skype closed up shop early 2025) in a public library and they essentially BS their way through it. They enroll in The University of Phoenix to meet the student requirement and Owen Wilson’s major is physics. Also, they call it “the Harvard of the internet,” which is definitely not true.
The key question they’re asked: you’re shrunk down to the size of nickels and dropped into a blender. What do you do?
They never answer this directly but their answer is clever enough to get them chosen. They do a silly reference to Fantastic Voyager, saying they’ll get out of the blender and go into the mini submarine to save lives. But their whole message is essentially “it’s not about getting out of the blender, it’s what you do next” and how they had been in the blender and this is their second chance to make a difference.
They get to the actual Google campus out in California and all the interns are put into teams. Predictably, they wind up in the team with all the misfits or as head honco Mr. Chetty puts it “the leftovers” and Lyle (who we see campaign for them at the admissions meeting) is their team captain/supervisor. Josh Brener, who plays Lyle, later plays a notable role in the HBO series "Silicon Valley," but he sadly winds up being one of TJ Miller's many punching bags throughout the series.
Graham, the intern who serves as the antagonist drafts his teammates all based on their colleges- only Ivy League are good enough in his eyes.
While Vince Vaughn regularly butts heads with him and Chetty, Owen Wilson spends the majority of his time essentially stalking Rose Bryne. I love the guy but I just found this character arc so annoying— first because she’s an employee and interns aren’t supposed to date them and second, it just perpetuates the myth that a girl will eventually agree to go out with you if you ask them enough times. I want to scream “she’s not interested in you- leave her alone!”
As for the rest of Team Lyle, we have Yo-Yo Santos, the neurotic son of a “tiger mom” (this term for overbearing Asian moms came into being a few years prior), Neha, an Indian girl who loves anime and Star Wars, and Stuart, a deadpan-humor type of guy who needs to learn the valuable lesson that there’s a whole world out there- just 3 inches up.
The internship program consists of challenges and the team with the highest grand total is guaranteed jobs after graduation.
The challenges vary, as do how well the two guys handle them.
The first challenge is finding a bug in the code… and since they have ZERO coding knowledge and annoy their teammates to death as they play 6 degrees of separation with pop culture references, they get sent away to find the creator of the code… Professor Xavier.
There’s a quidditch match and Vince Vaughn gives a pretty cool halftime pep talk referencing Alex, the steel mill girl with a dream to dance (aka the plot of Flashdance). As a Harry Potter fan, it was a fun scene but Lyle’s comment about recommending a stag patronus in case of dementor attack… ugh, it annoys me cuz last I checked, you don’t choose what your patronus looks like. The form chooses you. Although Snape’s patronus in the deathly hallows might prove otherwise…
Next is a “create your own app” challenge where the team with the most downloads wins… once we get out the annoying loop that includes “on the line/online” and “exchange-a-gram," Team Lyle comes up with their million download idea after a crazy night out off campus. The first time any of the younger interns really get to experience the real world so it comes with a lot of shenanigans but also some cool moments.
After hearing the lot of them bemoan they need to win because jobs are no longer a sure thing after graduating from college, it's nice for them to get away from that stress and find a way to savor the in-between moments.
The final two challenges are the most pivotal to the plot for typical plot reason- one where all hope seems lost afterwards and one that’s a redemption arc.
Josh Gad has somewhat of a small role in this movie until this point, where he sort of becomes a mentor to Vince Vaughn while he’s studying for the customer hotline challenge. He has a cool line about how mentoring him isn't like teaching a kid the alphabet, it's like teaching them a single letter. Pretty deep stuff and the best part… I’ll leave for you to find out. It’s always a cool moment when a background character winds contributing to the plot in a huge way.
Another entertaining detail- in the first class where Mr. Chetty teaches the interns the do's and don't's of the program and outright refuses to “get a cold one” with Vince Vaughn, they have banter about different food items interns can’t take home with them… Aasif Mandvi was a regular correspondent on The Daily Show in his heyday so his improv chops are put to good use. But the funniest part- throughout the movie after that scene, you’ll see Vince Vaughn eating one of the food items mentioned in that conversation.
And say what you want about the guy, Vince Vaughn is a hell of a salesman. At one point I think Owen Wilson says he could sell ice to an Eskimo or some other version of that adage.
Also he co-wrote the script. While it’s not perfect, it’s good in the moments where the chips are down and it really counts.
The final two challenges are the most pivotal to the plot for typical plot reason- one where all hope seems lost afterwards and one that’s a redemption arc.
Josh Gad has somewhat of a small role in this movie until this point, where he sort of becomes a mentor to Vince Vaughn while he’s studying for the customer hotline challenge. He has a cool line about how mentoring him isn't like teaching a kid the alphabet, it's like teaching them a single letter. Pretty deep stuff and the best part… I’ll leave for you to find out. It’s always a cool moment when a background character winds contributing to the plot in a huge way.
Another entertaining detail- in the first class where Mr. Chetty teaches the interns the do's and don't's of the program and outright refuses to “get a cold one” with Vince Vaughn, they have banter about different food items interns can’t take home with them… Aasif Mandvi was a regular correspondent on The Daily Show in his heyday so his improv chops are put to good use. But the funniest part- throughout the movie after that scene, you’ll see Vince Vaughn eating one of the food items mentioned in that conversation.
And say what you want about the guy, Vince Vaughn is a hell of a salesman. At one point I think Owen Wilson says he could sell ice to an Eskimo or some other version of that adage.
Also he co-wrote the script. While it’s not perfect, it’s good in the moments where the chips are down and it really counts.
