Late Night - Review
Director: Nisha Ganatra
Cast: Emma Thompson, Mindy Kaling, Hugh Dancy, John Lithgow
After its crowd-pleasing debut at the Sundance Film Festival where it sold for an astounding $13 million to Amazon, Late Night makes its way to cinemas and co-stars Emma Thompson and Mindy Kaling (also the film's scribe) seem intent on giving comedy a rewrite.
Pioneering talk show host Katherine Newbury (Thompson) learns that her show's ratings are plummeting and she is in danger of being replaced. In an effort to revitalise both the show and her image, Katherine impulsively hires Molly (Kaling) into the all white male writer's room who unexpectedly turns her world upside down.
As someone who has had years of experience as a comedy writer in Hollywood, Kaling clearly has a lot to say about the dynamics of the industry, using all of her grievances and observations about its exclusivity as material in her debut feature length script. The film addresses the vast gender and racial imbalance of writing staffs, points fingers at nepotism and examine attitudes toward women of a certain age who are still actively working. These hot topics are burned through fast and furiously and Kaling's admirable intentions are dealt with a very heavy hand and very little nuance.
Late Night's pace definitely has its foot on the accelerator, zipping through the increasingly layered story and hitting plot points faster than it can deliver a punchline. Its restless energy often distracts from the unfulfilling comedic sequences and the film suffers under the strain of trying to achieve too many things at once and conform to the conventions of the genre, so much so that it becomes a mass accumulation of tropes. Kaling's Molly is an inexperienced but promising creative who is given her chance to shine in the job of her dreams but must navigate the choppy waters of the workplace that include fractious co-workers, a potential office romance and a prickly boss. It's textbook stuff, and even with Kaling's acute insight into the world she's writing about, it doesn't succeed in contributing anything standout to the comedy canon.
However, the film's casting cannot be faulted as Emma Thompson as Katherine Newbury is a stroke of genius. The seasoned talk show host has been going through the motions, losing the gumption that she once had for her work that she sacrificed everything for. A natural entertainer, two time Academy Award-winning Thompson exudes ease and authority in front of the camera and provides the character with all of the complications that the script demands. For example, Newbury claims ardent feminism but is called out on her overt distaste of women, a thought-provoking notion that shows women in power can be complicit in misogyny like their male counterparts.
Despite its toothless approach to a subject that demands more bite, Late Night is a mildly entertaining and middling comedy that has its heart in the right place.
EB
Cast: Emma Thompson, Mindy Kaling, Hugh Dancy, John Lithgow
Pioneering talk show host Katherine Newbury (Thompson) learns that her show's ratings are plummeting and she is in danger of being replaced. In an effort to revitalise both the show and her image, Katherine impulsively hires Molly (Kaling) into the all white male writer's room who unexpectedly turns her world upside down.
As someone who has had years of experience as a comedy writer in Hollywood, Kaling clearly has a lot to say about the dynamics of the industry, using all of her grievances and observations about its exclusivity as material in her debut feature length script. The film addresses the vast gender and racial imbalance of writing staffs, points fingers at nepotism and examine attitudes toward women of a certain age who are still actively working. These hot topics are burned through fast and furiously and Kaling's admirable intentions are dealt with a very heavy hand and very little nuance.
Late Night's pace definitely has its foot on the accelerator, zipping through the increasingly layered story and hitting plot points faster than it can deliver a punchline. Its restless energy often distracts from the unfulfilling comedic sequences and the film suffers under the strain of trying to achieve too many things at once and conform to the conventions of the genre, so much so that it becomes a mass accumulation of tropes. Kaling's Molly is an inexperienced but promising creative who is given her chance to shine in the job of her dreams but must navigate the choppy waters of the workplace that include fractious co-workers, a potential office romance and a prickly boss. It's textbook stuff, and even with Kaling's acute insight into the world she's writing about, it doesn't succeed in contributing anything standout to the comedy canon.
However, the film's casting cannot be faulted as Emma Thompson as Katherine Newbury is a stroke of genius. The seasoned talk show host has been going through the motions, losing the gumption that she once had for her work that she sacrificed everything for. A natural entertainer, two time Academy Award-winning Thompson exudes ease and authority in front of the camera and provides the character with all of the complications that the script demands. For example, Newbury claims ardent feminism but is called out on her overt distaste of women, a thought-provoking notion that shows women in power can be complicit in misogyny like their male counterparts.
Despite its toothless approach to a subject that demands more bite, Late Night is a mildly entertaining and middling comedy that has its heart in the right place.
EB
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