Hathaway, De Niro work it in ‘The Intern’

Starring Anne Hathaway and Robert de Niro. Directed by Nancy Meyers.

Rated PG-13 for some suggestive content and brief strong language. Check listings for theaters. 1 hour, 59 minutes.

Bottom line: It has bright spots, but it can be frustrating

Nicely acted by Anne Hathaway and Robert De Niro, the artificial sweetener titled “The Intern” has its bright spots but is practically blinded by its own privileged perspective of life among the landed gentry of Brooklyn.

It’s not fair to single out the writer-director, Nancy Meyers, whose better work includes “Something’s Gotta Give” and “It’s Complicated,” for making high-end escapist fantasies about a certain socioeconomic strata. Most Hollywood products work the same way. But this is a particularly frustrating case, because Meyers’ latest has many good lines, and good laughs, and even entire good scenes.

Since his wife’s passing, retiree Ben Whittaker, played by De Niro, has lived a pleasantly routinized life alone for three years. Hired as a senior intern at a JackThreads-type online clothing company, he’s assigned to the bustling startup’s founder and honcho, Jules Ostin, played by Hathaway in perpetual “go” mode. Jules tools around her company’s fabulous gut-rehab warehouse on a bicycle and never remembers to eat.

At first Jules has no use for Ben, who sports the sole suit and tie amid a sea of unshaven chins and untucked shirts. Scene by scene, the boss comes to realize how much wisdom, experience, advice and class this man has to offer, although a good deal of his internship is spent chauffeuring Jules from her mouthwatering Park Slope brownstone to work and back again.

Surprisingly, the biggest, broadest comic interlude clicks: a secret mission, conducted by Ben and his fellow (and much younger) co-workers, to retrieve a laptop from Jules’ parents’ house. In her best dialogue about the stresses of work/life balance, Meyers suggests a measure of ambivalence and complication in its treatment of Jules, although on the surface she’s just another type-A workaholic out of a rom-com.

Meyers has wit and a solid sense of craft, but mainly she makes movies about high thread counts and comfy, pricey throw pillows. There’s not much at stake for Ben; judging from the size and furnishings of his bedroom closet, this longtime phone book company executive is living a supremely comfortable retirement. Jules learns to be a less judgy, more nurturing leader and friend.

Hathaway and De Niro suggest inner lives for their characters, even though the film itself is more of an outie — a collection of looks, and smiles, and attractive surfaces. As for composer Theodore Shapiro’s musical score … it’s awful. Pushy, insistent, it slathers every exchange, each new Meyers montage with fake good cheer. Less is more with some composers; with this score, I wonder if “none” would’ve been the better option.