Writer/director Nancy Meyers takes on the American generation gap and mixes in clichéd beats of gender role reversal in The Intern, a film that would probably come and go without much notice were it not for the surprising chemistry shared by its two leads, Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway. Though never enough to overcome the film’s numerous imperfections, the pair make an enjoyable enough bright spot to keep us watching much longer than we should.

Meyers’ (Something's Gotta Give) films have always been noted for their strikingly poignant and delightfully humorous explorations of human relationships, at the center of which is typically a warm friendship that gets run through the wringer of life’s day-to-day agony. In The Intern, that friendship takes center stage in the form of retired widower and septuagenarian Ben Whitaker (De Niro) and 30-something dotcom entrepreneur Jules Osten (Hathaway).

The two first meet when Ben is selected for a coveted “senior internship" at Jules’ fast-growing online clothing company called About the Fit. Since retirement, Ben’s life has been an empty shell he’s tried to fill with yoga classes, birdhouse building, cooking lessons, and trips around the world. Overtaxed Jules doesn’t recall okaying the internship program and is especially put-off by the idea of having an old man follow her around all day. Ben gets his first taste of Jules’s type-A personality when their first encounter is punctuated by her deadpan greeting, “I’m glad you also see the humor in this.”

But naturally, the office hipsters who practice casual Friday dress every day of the week, soon begin to warm up to Ben as he dispenses sage advice about such long-forgotten notions as chivalry and men’s fashion from behind a desk lovingly appointed with old-school leather attaché case, digital calculator, and circa ‘90s flip-phone. He’s an analogue fish in a digital sea of sleek Apple products -- but his inspiration that reminds the techies to look up from their devices and really engage with one another never goes out of style.

And down that same high-minded conceptual road goes the relationship between Ben and Jules as Meyers’ story takes on such heady topics as women in business, retirement, and remaining relevant in today’s rat-race. The irony is piled on thick as Jules eventually figures out there’s a lot to learn from Ben -- like the importance of engaging other people on a personal level and how to strike a better balance between work and personal life.

Meyers sprinkles the proceedings with a tirade of occasionally funny jokes involving the computer illiteracy of seniors and the slovenliness of millennials’ office habits, but it’s never enough to make us forget about the film’s low points -- especially one involving Ben and his young co-workers as they break into a house to interrupt an unintended email. And let’s not forget the tired sex gag scene involving Ben and the house masseuse (Renee Russo) as she gives a preview of her skills at Ben’s desk. Both scenes are silly and feel awkwardly out of place.

The Intern loses a lot of its steam as its final act approaches. Hathaway plays much better against De Niro’s pin-striped persona when she’s biting into her role with a Miranda Priestly boorishness. The entire experience loses its edge as Jules softens up to Ben’s mentoring. Also gone is Meyers’s breezy banter and witty dialogue, replaced by heavy musings about professional women, romantic infidelity, and the virtues of forgiveness. These are all worthy discussion topics for a movie like this, but Meyers stumbles with her transition into the film’s payoff.

The Intern has a lot of important things to say about the generation gap in today’s workplace, but other than a pair of brilliant turns by De Niro and Hathaway -- who almost win us over with their electric chemistry --there’s simply not enough here to recommend the movie as anything more than a Redbox or Netflix rental.

(Released by Warner Bros. and rated “PG-13” for some suggestive content and brief strong language.)

Review also posted at www.franksreelreviews.com.