The word "dysfunctional" may have crossed your mind as Dominique Swain sat bouncing on Jeremy Irons's lap in the 1997 version of 'Lolita'. Apparently, though, the true meaning of the word can only be fathomed in the offices of a fashion magazine. In the much-hyped 'Intern', directed by Michael Lange, Swain stars as Jocelyn, the fresh-faced novice willing to do whatever it takes to learn about fashion at 'Skirt' magazine. But, as she soon discovers, being at the bottom of the binge-and-purge food chain is no picnic. To please a team of depraved editors, stylists, and designers, Jocelyn diligently sets about such tasks as spritzing models with Evian and clash-proofing bulletin boards with all-black pushpins, while other lackeys fetch "Himalayan rejuvenation lichenberry acid peels" for their undernourished bosses.

Such is the skinny on the fashion world, according to first-time screenwriters Jill Kopelman and Caroline Doyle, who come to the film world with more than a Prada bowling bag full of connections. Kopelman, daughter of the president of Chanel, and Doyle, whose mother owns New York's Doyle Galleries, put their Rolodexes together to lure pal Gwenyth Paltrow, along with Conde Nast fashion editors Elizabeth Schwartzman and Andre Leon Talley, into the project.

Based on the screenwriters' own intern stints at 'Harper's Bazaar' and 'Mademoiselle', and one staff job at 'Interview', 'Intern' is a cameo-studded affair shot in the offices of 'Vanity Fair'. But despite appearances by Tommy Hilfiger, Cynthia Rowley, and Diane von Furstenberg, the film feels more like a one-and-a-half-hour spread on courture cliches than a dossier of insider goodies. Suprise, lots of men in fashion are gay; hard to believe, but many models are, gasp, bulimic; and, hold on to your hats, editors make the most outlandish fashion decisions that have nothing to do with the needs of real women.

Swain herself orbits far from 'Intern's world of wheelchair chic and $4,000 Helmut Lang helmets. "I let my agent take me to Barneys for lunch, but I'd never shop there," insists Swain, who turns 20 this month. With no models around to skew dimensions, she looks smaller and more delicate than in the movie. Clad in a pink tank top, jeans, and tennis shoes, her blonde braids and retainers are more 'Lolita' than Jocelyn, although her personality is an alluring combination of the two--at once charming, innocent, and knowing.

She is both childlike and mature: Swain speaks knowledgeably about film, acting, and literature, while bursts of childlike energy break through in flailing arms and a series of spontaneous guffaws. At one point during lunch, she jumps to her feet, mouth full of chicken herb salad, to express excitement about a favorite passage in Nabokov's text.

'Intern' lovingly pokes fun at a target ripe for parody, but the young actress is quite serious about the ramifications of fashion magazines on women's collective psyches. "Fashion didn't provide a very healthy image when I was growing up. You're given an image of perfection at a very impressionable age." According to Swain, she was "only asked to model when I was so emaciated during the European release of 'Lolita'." She seems perfectly at ease with her now-healthy body - although, with 5 feet 7 inches of lanky limbs, there isn't much to be neurotic about.

Unlike Jocelyn, Swain has done little dues-paying of her own. On her first foray in Hollywood, the Malibu High School student struck gold with 'Lolita'. But shooting straight to the top has left Swain wondering about people who start out like Jocelyn. "I missed getting in from the ground. After getting 'Lolita', I've been expected to jump off to an even higher plateau, but it's really hard when you haven't experienced everything about auditioning." This year, Swain jumps off with no less than four films, including the comedy 'Happy Campers' by 'Heathers' director Daniel Waters.

Youth, beauty, fame. What more could one want? A paid assistant, apparently. Of the intern on the set of 'Intern', Swain says, "I didn't know that she wasn't getting paid until the end. She was just trying to learn. That's what I missed."