Welcome to The Mundane Adventures of a Fangirl

I consider myself a Fangirl. What does that mean, you ask? A "fanboy" in the most common understanding is a hardcore fan of 'genre' based entertainment in particular. In my case - science-fiction and comic book based movies and television. Because I'm a chick - it's fangirl, not fanboy. There you have it! I am a big movie fan, however, not necessarily a 'film' fan. And now - I have the forum to present my opinions to the public! These will mainly be movie reviews -that will always be my opinion - repeat OPINION. Just what I think, and in no way do I present my opinion as fact. I hope you enjoy and maybe it will help you decide what to see at the movie theater this weekend!

Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Movie Review: Late Night (R – 102 minutes)


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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