I finally saw Shawn Levy‘s The Internship last night at a Paris press screening, and I have to agree with most of the criticisms levelled by Stateside critics. I felt so hammered by the relentlessly positive attitudes of Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson‘s salesman characters (and by the His Girl Friday velocity of their delivery) that I was exhausted by the end. The movie is one big sales pitch. And the Google signage (logo, colors, graphics) is completely oppressive — one way or another Levy and the producers should have cut down on this. I didn’t believe that guys in their early 40s would be that clueless about online stuff. Max Minghella‘s snippy villain did everything but twirl his moustache. And the formulaic story all but puts you to sleep. Almost none of it rang true.

One charming exception: Wilson’s date with Rose Byrne in which he deliberately tries to act like an asshole was the only scene that made me laugh. But then the vibe was ruined when he dropped her off on Telegraph Hill (which no one in her position would be able to afford — and why does she live in San Francisco if she works on the Google campus, which is a good 45 minutes south?) and when she invited him into her apartment. She’s been blowing him off for weeks but suddenly she’s into having sex with him because she suddenly noticed earlier that day that he’s positive-minded and has shown a flair for put-on humor during dinner?