While still practicing some safe self-isolating, I was able
to catch up on a movie that I missed in theaters. Late Night is available on
Amazon Prime Video.
This movie is an interesting character study that
masquerades as a comedy. Katherine
Newbury is a British stand up comedian who has been hosting a late-night talk
show in the states for years. There’s a new head of the network who feels that
Katherine’s show is not bringing in the numbers, no one is watching it, and the
comedy is not fresh. As such, she lets
Katherine know she’s pulling the plug, and in a last-minute effort to try to
save her show, Katherine forces her writing staff to hire a new female writer
and start shifting the format to reach new audience members.
Molly Patel is a young chemical plant worker who has been
dabbling in stand-up comedy. She accidentally gets hired to join Katherine’s
writing team. She has to deal with a room full of white, male writers who never
interact with either Katherine or the stage of the show and while she
negotiates that, Katherine has to deal with her dying husband and rumors of
previous misconduct. Hijinks do not ensue.
The movie is directed by Nisha Ganatra, who has a lot of TV
directing experience from Fresh Off the Boat, Last Man On Earth, and Brooklyn
Nine Nine to name a few. The movie was
written by Mindy Kaling and she again proves her skill. The movie is very interesting
and definitely one I feel suffered from incorrect marketing. It was sold as a comedy
of a young writer trying to help an older comedian, and while aspects of that
are there, it is really more of a drama about the situation with comedic moments.
It’s well crafted and certainly well-shot. As long as you don’t expect it to be
constant laughs, you’ll enjoy it. The cast is very skilled.
Emma Thompson is certainly good as Katherine. She’s been so
comfortable for so long, that she is not sure how to deal with sudden change. Thompson manages to walk the fine line
between incredibly heavy moments and very lighthearted moments with ease. Despite
Katherine being a difficult character in many moments, Thompson manages to save
her from becoming truly unlikeable.
Mindy Kaling excels at playing upbeat and optimistic
characters and Molly is absolutely another one of those. She is excited at the
potential of her new position and looking forward to making positive changes. I love the intelligence and boldness of her
character – she seizes on the opportunities that she is given.
John Lithgow plays Thompson’s aging husband, and their backstory
seems truly shady but is never really brought to center stage.
Hugh Dancy plays another writer who is there to be full of
himself and cause problems. Reid Scott, Max Casella, Paul Walter Hauser, and John
Early are also various writing staff members. Dennis O’Hare is the standout as
the exec over the writers who functions as the go-between, shifting jokes from
the writers to Katherine and keeping the ship afloat. He’s very good in this,
subtle, conflicted, and honest.
6 out of 10 - Overall, the movie is certainly entertaining
enough for a couch-watch. I like Mindy’s writing, and as I said, not a straight
comedy, but more of a drama with some comedic points. Very well-put together, but I can’t help
wondering if it might have been better as a series on Amazon Prime. That would
have really let you dig into some of the backstories that get touched on and dropped
due to run-time.
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