Film Review - Late Night (15)

You're a little old, and a little white.

Mindy Kaling is a legitimate TV phenomenon - regular on the US version of The Office, creator and star of The Mindy Project and currently finishing off work on an American small-screen adaptation of Four Weddings and a Funeral. With a scattering of screen credits too (Inside Out, Ocean's 8), you can't fault the woman's work ethic, or her ambition. And the fact that she easily persuaded Emma Thompson to co-star with her in her new film, for which she penned the screenplay, demonstrates her current industry clout. Result - the third grown-up film comedy this year (see Long Shot and Booksmart) that I've really liked. You go, girl.

Kaling's attitude is not dissimilar to that of Molly Patel, the sweetly determined heroine she plays in Late Night. A lowly chemical plant worker, Molly applies to write for Katherine Newbury (Thompson), award-winning host of a Carson/Letterman-style talk show, citing a love of TV comedy as her key qualification. Her arrival coincides with a crisis for the acid-tongued host - declining ratings and the accusation that her writing team is exclusively white and male. With the time and place so conspicuously right Molly finds herself hired, but is initially an unwelcome presence in the writers' room and an unintentional thorn in her pressurised boss's side. It's going to take a lot to prove herself as more than a 'diversity hire', and just as much to save Katherine's job as the show's front-woman.

 

These are both well-tried storylines - the out-of-her-depth novice trying to prove herself and the veteran under threat from younger (and in this case male-er competition). What gives this narrative added oomph is how rooted it is in contemporary television culture and the issues of the day. This tackles #metoo, ageism and diversity, but with sufficient lightness of touch and ironic self-awareness that it never feels too worthy. It's astute and witty writing at all points - in touch with 2019's popular culture, but equally aware of US television's past. Directed with the requisite zip and sparkle by Nisha Ganatra (another woman with a firm grounding in TV comedy), it also lingers on moments of genuine pathos without letting them turn mawkish.

The role of Katherine was written with Thompson in mind and it plays to her strengths, both comic and dramatic. Power-dressed with her bleach-blonde hair coiffed to brittle perfection, the show anchor is a terror - a woman who's fought too long in a man's world, turning harder-edged than any of the guys. She has a blood-freezing incredulity for anyone who fails her standards, and yet a humanising warmth exists somewhere at her core. Kaling serves as an able counterpoint, undergirding Molly's wide-eyed sincerity with enough intelligence and grit to make the relationship convincing. The writers' room boys are a convincing ensemble and great foils for both the female leads; they're spiky and disgruntled for sure, but human too and neatly differentiated. And John Lithgow adds extra dimension to Thompson as the husband she adores.

If there's one area where this movie can't quite find its authenticity, it's the portrayal of stand-up comedy. But then it's not the only film to stumble at that point. The Big Sick - a film I love and which frequently made me laugh - felt oddly stilted in those on-stage moments. The spontaneity of the comedy club is just damned tricky to reproduce artificially. Elsewhere these characters are believable and consistently amusing - I just want to believe they can do what they're supposedly best at.

That quibble aside, Kaling does a fine job at capturing a whole working world and its current state of flux. Her smarts and industry experience are on full display and her dream casting delivers all she must have hoped. Keep an eye on this career. If Late Night is anything by which to judge, it's only going to get bigger and brighter.

Gut Reaction: A few guffaws and a lot of smiles, plus some personal moments of sadness. 

Memorable Moment: Molly's dreams take a trashing. 

Ed's Verdict: 7.5/10. Well-crafted character comedy with enough drama to give it proper weight. The Kaling/Thompson paring works a treat.