LATE NIGHT – A Review by Cynthia Flores
Since Ms. Kaling wrote this and also stars in it, one can only guess how much is based off what she went through starting off as a staff writer on the TV hit The Office. In this film, she plays Molly Patel the naive but talented new writer for a late night talk show hosted by the legendary Katherine Newbury (Emma Thompson) who is a pioneer in her field. Unfortunately for Molly, the week she starts her dream job is the week that Katherine is told by the new CEO of the company Caroline Morton (Amy Ryan) that this is her last year to host the show. She will be asked to turn it over to Daniel Tennant (Ike Barinholtz), a crass young standup comedian that looks and sounds a lot like the real Dane Cook. Katherine does not want to go down without a fight. So she teams up with her new hire and gets the rest of her all white male writing staff together to give her show a facelift and make it must-see tv again.
Most of the comedy is in the writing room and on set watching Molly try to find her place and voice as a comedy writer while Kathrine sharpens her comedic bits. The drama comes from watching Katherine have to deal with how out of touch and complacent she had become on the show. How she’s getting older and has no children or social life outside the show. And also having to deal with her beloved husband Walter (John Lithgow) getting sicker with Parkinson’s disease. Yeah, there is some heavy stuff in this comedy. That won’t come as any surprise to the hardcore Mindy show fans because on that Ms. Kaling would have you laughing one minute and crying the next.
Late Night did brilliantly in its casting of Emma Thompson as Katherine. She is really the beating heart of this film. I enjoyed watching her change and grow right along with Molly as they take on the fight to save her show. I give Late Night a solid B+ rating and hope all the Mindy show fans will support Ms. Kaling in this new endeavor.
Directed by Nisha Ganatra
Written by Mindy Kaling
Rated R
Selig Rating B+
Running Time 1hr 42min
Drama /Comedy
Wide Release June 7th
Starring: Emma Thompson, Mindy Kaling, John Lithgow, Hugh Dancy, Reid Scott, Denis O’Hare, Max Casella
The Selig Rating Scale:
A – Excellent movie, well worth the price.
B – Good movie
C – OK movie
D – No need to rush. Save it for a rainy day.
F – Good that I saw it on the big screen but wish I hadn’t paid for it.
