''Intern'' is a 2000 American satirical

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Michael Lange Michael Lange (born March 1, 1950) is an American television director and record producer. Biography Early life Born and raised just outside New York City,

about the shallow world of fashion magazines. It stars

Dominique Swain Dominique Swain (born August 12, 1980) is an American actress and producer. She came to prominence playing the title character in Adrian Lyne's 1997 film adaptation of ''Lolita'', alongside her supporting role as Jamie Archer in John Woo's ''Fac ...

Joan Rivers Joan Alexandra Molinsky (June 8, 1933 – September 4, 2014), known professionally as Joan Rivers, was an American comedian, actress, producer, writer and television host. She was noted for her blunt, often controversial comedic persona—heavi ...

Peggy Lipton Margaret Ann Lipton (August 30, 1946 – May 11, 2019) was an American actress, model, and singer. She made appearances in many of the most popular television shows of the 1960s before she landed her defining role as flower child Julie Barnes i ...

Paulina Porizkova Paulina Porizkova (born Pavlína Pořízková, ; 9 April 1965) is a Swedish model. Born in Czechoslovakia and raised in Sweden, Porizkova became the first Central European woman to appear on the cover of the ''Sports Illustrated'' swimsuit issu ...

and

Kathy Griffin Kathleen Mary Griffin (born November 4, 1960) is an American comedian and actress who has starred in television comedy specials and has released comedy albums. In 2007 and 2008, Griffin won Primetime Emmy Awards for her reality show '' Kathy ...

. The film features multiple cameo appearances including

Tommy Hilfiger Thomas Jacob Hilfiger ( /hɪlˈfɪgər/; born March 24, 1951) is an American fashion designer and the founder of Tommy Hilfiger Corporation. After starting his career by co-founding a chain of jeans/fashion stores called People's Place in upst ...

, Kenneth Cole, Diane von Fürstenberg,

Kevyn Aucoin Kevyn James Aucoin (; February 14, 1962 – May 7, 2002) was an American make-up artist, photographer and author. In the 1990s, Aucoin was wholly responsible for the "sculpted" look of many celebrities and top models, including Whitney Houston, ...

André Leon Talley André Leon Talley (October 16, 1948 – January 18, 2022) was an American fashion journalist, stylist, creative director, and editor-at-large of ''Vogue'' magazine. He was the magazine's fashion news director from 1983 to 1987, its first Africa ...

, Samia Shoaib, and Gwyneth Paltrow. Caroline Doyle and Jill Kargman, both of whom had stints in fashion journalism at '' Mademoiselle'', '' Harper's Bazaar'', and ''

Interview An interview is a structured conversation where one participant asks questions, and the other provides answers.Merriam Webster DictionaryInterview Dictionary definition, Retrieved February 16, 2016 In common parlance, the word "interview" ...

'' magazines, wrote the screenplay. The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2000.

Plot

Jocelyn Bennett is an intern at the fictional

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

magazine, ''Skirt''. Horribly mistreated, overworked, and underpaid, Jocelyn lives for ''Skirt,'' especially the photo spreads. A spy begins to hand over ''Skirt''s spreads and story ideas to its rival glossy, ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine ** ''Vogue China'', ...

''. ''Skirt'' magazine finds itself in a bind and some people begin speculating who the infiltrator (everyone refers to the spy as a "yuri") might be. After some fingers begin to point at Jocelyn, she seeks to apprehend the spy and clear her name. Along the way, she meets Paul Rochester, the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

deputy art director at ''Skirt'', with whom she has much in common. When she finds herself falling in love, one thing stands in her way: Paul's supermodel girlfriend, Resin. Jocelyn continues to search for the spy but several obstacles stand in her way, including Art Director Sebastian Niedarfarb, who believes she is the spy and consistently puts Jocelyn down. However, as she begins to climb the ranks, she begins to stand out to the editors who realize her potential, though they quickly forget it. To make Paul jealous, she starts dating a photo shoot tech named Alex, though the relationship doesn't last. Jocelyn later learns that Resin is only dating Paul because he is related to Prince Charles. Soon after, the spy is apprehended. For her work, Jocelyn is made an assistant, on staff, and finally gets better treatment from her colleagues. During a party thrown by ''Skirt,'' Resin dumps Paul for another model, and Paul and Jocelyn get engaged.Two years later, the happy couple are shown on a PBS tour done by the newest intern at ''Skirt.'' Jocelyn has been made the senior photo editor at the magazine and Paul accomplished his dream of becoming a famous artist. They are set to be married in a few months.

Cast

as Jocelyn Bennett * Ben Pullen as Paul Rochester * Leilani Bishop as Resin *

as Roxanne Rochet *

as Chi Chi Chemise * Billy Porter as Sebastian Niederfarb *

as Cornelia Crisp * Anna Levine as Antoinette De la Paix *

as Dolly Bellows *

as himself *

as himself * Diane von Fürstenberg as herself *

as himself * Kenneth Cole as himself * Gwyneth Paltrow as herself

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 38% based on reviews from 8 critics, with an average rating of 5.7/10. While some critics praised the dialogue and writing of the film and said it contained a “few entertaining moments", others said it was "a disappointingly flat and familiar look at the glamour industry." Stephen Holden of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' said, "The biggest mystery about ''Intern'' is how a film about people who are obsessed with appearances could wind up looking so hopelessly drab and tacky." Stephen MacMillan Moser of ''

The Austin Chronicle ''The Austin Chronicle'' is an alternative weekly newspaper published every Thursday in Austin, Texas, United States. The paper is distributed through free news-stands, often at local eateries or coffee houses frequented by its targeted demogr ...

'' said, "''Intern'' isn't a particularly deep movie, but, to paraphrase

Karl Lagerfeld Karl Otto Lagerfeld (; 10 September 1933 – 19 February 2019) was a German fashion designer, creative director, artist and photographer. He was known as the creative director of the French fashion house Chanel, a position held from 1983 ...

, fashion is not the same thing as feeding the hungry and curing the ill."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Intern, The 2000 films 2000 comedy films 2000 in fashion 2000 independent films 2000s American films 2000s English-language films 2000s satirical films American comedy films American satirical films Films about fashion in the United States Films directed by Michael Lange Films set in New York City Workplace comedy films Works about fashion magazine publishing