South Korean film “The Intern”, which is the remake of Nancy Meyers’ 2015 film of the same name starring Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway, is better than expected to my little surprise. While being pretty conventional to the core just like the original version, the movie balances itself fairly well between comedy and drama on the whole, and I actually got engaged in the story and characters even though it did not exceed my expectation a lot.

Choi Min-sik, who has been comfortably going for relatively less intense roles compared to his unforgettable performance in Park Chan-wook’s “Oldboy” (2003), plays Kim Ki-ho, a 67-year-old widowed man who decides to try something different for his remaining life instead of being stuck in his ongoing retirement just like many old dudes like him. He applies for “silver internship” at some promising fashion startup company without much expectation, but, what do you know, he is soon notified that he is hired, and then we see him hopefully beginning his first day at the company.

However, everyone in the company including its young CEO Lee Seon-woo (Han So-hee) does not expect that much from him. After all, the main purpose of the silver internship is getting some tax break to benefit the company, and Ki-ho is understandably perplexed as he is simply required to occupy his desk without doing anything at all.

Nevertheless, he tries as much as he can for befriending others around him in the company. Despite the considerable age gap between him and two other interns much younger than him, it does not take much time for Ki-ho to get friendly with them mainly because they sit right next to him, and there is an amusing little moment when he learns several online slangs used among their generation (FULL DISCLOSURE: I felt really old because I am not familiar at all with any of these slangs – and I am just 43 at present, for Christ’s sake).

In the meantime, Ki-ho also actively looks for any chance of giving some help or assistance to Seon-woo and several other employees working under her. Needless to say, he inadvertently makes a few mistakes at first, but he gradually proves himself as a dependable intern ready for any task, and he also becomes a temporary chauffeur for Seon-woo after he happens to see her chauffeur drinking right before driving his car.

Although the mood is rather awkward between them at first, Seon-woo soon finds herself becoming comfortable with Ki-ho, who does not disappoint her at all as showing a lot of tactfulness and resourcefulness. Besides his reliable driving, he helps her in one way or another just like he has helped many of her employees, and Seon-woo comes to appreciate his sincere and dexterous assistance more.

And Ki-ho quietly and tactfully observes the growing personal/professional conflict of his boss. Although she has been the main force behind the considerable growth and advance of her company, Seon-woo has also been frequently pressured to hand over her CEO position to any more experienced and qualified businessman out there, and she feels all the more conflicted after sensing more of how she and her husband has become estranged to each other than before.

Needless to say, Ki-ho willingly becomes someone to lean on for Seon-woo, who is touched a lot by his humble decency and integrity. At one point in the middle of the story, he confides to her on why her company felt so special to him at the beginning, and we subsequently get a brief but sweet moment when he shows her a little hidden private spot inside the company.

After that narrative point, the story becomes more predictable as Seon-woo must decide what to do for her life as well as her company, but the movie thankfully does not overplay this. While leisurely rolling its two lead characters as before, it stays focused on their genuine human interactions, and it does earn its feel-good ending along with some smile from us.

While Choi Min-sik’s laid-back acting steadily holds the ground as required, Han So-hee did a good job of embodying her character’s strength and vulnerability, and she is convincing as Seon-woo comes to have more confidence and determination thanks to Ki-ho’s gentle support and encouragement. In case of several other main cast members including Kim Ju-han, Park Ye-ni, Ryu Hye-young, Kim Geum-soon, Yoon Sang-jeong, Kang Tae-oh, and Han Ji-eun, they are simply demanded to fill their respective spots, but that fortunately remains as a minor flaw as Choi and Han ably carry the film together from the beginning to the end.

In conclusion, “The Intern” works thanks to not only its two lead performers’ strong acting but also the good direction by director Kim Do-young, who drew my attention with her first feature film “Kim Ji-young, Born 1982” (2019). Like her previous film “Once We Were US” (2025), which is incidentally based on Chinese film “Us and Them” (2018), the movie is a solid remake with enough appeal and interest, and I gladly recommend it while rating it a bit higher than the original version (I gave it 2.5 stars, by the way). No, it does not surpass the original version, but I will not deny that I was more entertained this time, and my inconsequential rating simply reflects that.