Review by Mr. Will Wong
Following a rousing reception at the Sundance where it fetched top price and Inside Out, Canadian Filmmaker Nisha Ganatra is primed to unveil the greatness that is Late Night. Penned by and starring Mindy Kaling, the Comedy centers on late-night talk show host Katherine Newbury (Emma Thompson), who is accused of hating women, in being surrounded by a team of white male writers. When her ratings begin to plummet, she enlists the help of a chemical plant efficiency expert named Molly (Mindy Kaling), originally thought mostly of as a diversity hire. Coming face to face with some of the things holding her back from connecting with today’s audience, Molly and Katherine often find themselves clashing creatively, only to realize that their honesty with one another may be the greatest thing that could have happened to each other’s careers. Is it too late though for Katherine as a successor to her chair in up-and-coming Comedian Daniel Tennant (Ike Barinholtz) has been lined-up.
While echoing some of the boss- employee sentiments we saw in The Devil Wears Prada, Late Night succeeds in taking us on a journey through Katherine’s path to humility in her constant drive for perfection. We follow Molly as she finds her fire and ambition. While the Film spends much of its length uncovering stereotypes and challenging dated ideologies, it takes a familiar path in the end as we see Katherine and Molly grow in different ways. And that’s how it differs from The Devil Wears Prada.
Make no mistake, while there are two leads, the Film belongs entirely to Thompson, who has never been better. And believe us, there have been many brilliant spots in her career. She makes being miserable a joy to watch, really capturing the truth how it is that the funniest people often are perhaps the most disgruntled. And one thing that Kaling does so well in her writing is that she has Katherine one minute seeming shit out of luck but always but always digging her way out of the mess with gusto and that’s how we are won over by Thompson‘s Katherine.
Late Night feels fresh and features one of the year’s top performances already. Thompson is unforgettable. eOne Films release LATE NIGHT Friday, June 14, 2019.
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