[rating=7.00]
There’s a lot to be charmed by in Late Night, the first feature film written by television’s reigning queen of comedy, Mindy Kaling (who also stars). It is, on the one hand, a pitch perfect send up of our current television reality, which still finds itself dominated by men both in front of the cameras and behind the scenes. The film imagines a world where the most popular late night host of the modern era was a woman, Katherine Newbury (Emma Thompson), and takes us backstage to see how a nightly show is put together.
Kaling, of course, has no shortage of experience with the realities of television work with writing credits including The Office, The Mindy Project, and Champions. She is, without a doubt, one of the funniest and thought provoking writers of comedic television working today. Even still, women, people of color, and LGBTQ people are still wildly underrepresented in writing rooms across Hollywood, the realities of which you can find in this report, which details the experience diverse writers have had while at work.
Even while Late Night presents us with a world in which a woman has achieved acclaim as the face of a late night show, Kaling doesn’t let this interfere with the realities faced by diverse writers and the film tackles this subject straight on. While at times the film finds itself mired in generic conventions, these moments are overshadowed by the moments of brilliance for which Kaling is known.
We follow Molly Patel (Kaling) as she tries to land her dream job as a writer on Katherine Newbury’s long running late night show. Though dismissed as a diversity hire and often disparaged by the rest of her white male colleagues, Molly quickly distinguishes herself as capable, even as Newbury herself is reluctant to allow her the opportunity. To make matters worse, corporate is looking to make changes as Newbury’s ratings have been falling for years. Now, Molly, Newbury, and the rest of the team have just a few months to turn things around or be out of their jobs.
Late Night works best when Kaling directs her pointed wit towards the inner workings of the television industry. The film’s funniest moments come from her fish-out-of-water observations of how the business of entertainment comes together. She and co-star Thompson paint a delightful and charming exploration of the kinds of personalities on which the industry is run, even as Thompson’s Newbury is at her most heartless.
As a boss, Newbury is of the school of Miranda Priestly (Meryl Streep’s character in The Devil Wears Prada) and the actress appears to revel in the opportunity to channel her inner bitch. She doesn’t bother learning the names of her writers, instead calling them a number she’s assigned to them. She’s dismissive of their concerns often to the point of cruelty. She’s cold. She’s calculated. She’s amazing. Rather than just rest the character on these laurels, however, Kaling has crafted a role full of depth; there is a method to Newbury’s bitchiness, which is explored carefully and with heart, all of which Thompson brings to the screen.
Molly, meanwhile, offers the perfect window through which audiences can look. This is her first job in television and she is as blind to the process as we are. Kaling plays her not with naivete, however, but with a well-spring of untapped strength. Though positioned as a foil to Newbury, this isn’t that story. Instead it is a story of goals and personal values, and how often this industry can make one forget not just who they are but why they’re there.
While there are some subplots that meander and remove us from the crux of the story. A few attempts at romance seem out of place here and often feel contrived and generic. They felt like the kind of things that might have made sense in a series but were needlessly hammered in here, and the film might have played better without them. Still, they’re portrayed and played with such earnestness that it’s easy to forgive and at no point are they overshadowed by the amazing performances of both Kaling and Thompson.
Late Night, in the end, offers a strong antidote to the usual mindless summer movie outings and provides a delightful time at the movies. Though far from perfect, its charms are numerous and Kaling as proven herself more than capable of making the jump from the small screen to the big screen. It will be interesting to see how she evolves as a screenwriter and, if this is any indication, we’re bound to get some great screenwriting work from her in the very near future.
Late Night is now playing in theaters everywhere.
