LATE NIGHT
****
Director: Nisha Ganatra
Screenwriter: Mindy Kaling
Principal cast:
Emma Thompson
Mindy Kaling
Hugh Dancy
John Lithgow
Max Casella
Amy Ryan
Country: USA
Classification: M
Runtime: 102 mins.
Australian release date: 8 August 2019
Previewed at: Paparazzi Cinema, Event Cinemas, Sydney, on 31 July 2019.
Late Night, directed by Nisha Ganatra, looks at the fragility of fame in the TV business in this sharp, smart script by Mindy Kaling, also the film’s co-star. In a medium dominated by men, Katherine Newbury (Emma Thompson) has been a female pioneer, hosting a successful late-night talk-show on US television. Utilising exclusively male writers, she is starting to get a reputation as ‘a woman who hates women’, so she is forced to hire a female to join her writing team in an attempt to lift her falling ratings and re-establish her popularity or she faces being axed. Kaling’s screenplay cleverly examines all the ‘isms’ - sexism, ageism, racism, nepotism - plus issues like white male privilege, quotas for women, ethnic diversity and a lot more. Her great strength is that she does it all in a charming and funny way.
When told by the studio boss, Caroline Morton (Amy Ryan), that she has reached her ‘use-by date’, the very prickly Newbury is incensed and vows to put up a fight, proving the network wrong. Reluctantly, she is convinced to employ Molly Patel (Mindy Kaling), an Indian-American whose only previous comedic involvement is from her amateur gag routine behind the public announcement mike at a chemical plant in Pennsylvania. Molly attempts to up-date and re-invigorate the lagging comedy skits that have always been written by Katherine’s team of white, alpha-males, most of whom have never stepped foot on the set and, indeed, have only rarely met the show’s host face-to-face. Naturally, they are resentful of the fresh blood and her concomitant new approach, not just because she’s a woman (and a woman of colour) but also because she lacks the experience in comedy they all have. And this is an essential point in Late Night. Often people stay in jobs for many years without trying new ideas, becoming ‘stuck in their ways’ and ignoring the necessity for change which, in television especially, can be terminal. Katherine’s husband, Walter (John Lithgow), suspects that this is happening to the show but he has always been supportive and remained in the background, allowing his wife to pursue her career without interfering, until the day a private email exchange of Katherine’s goes public and, suddenly, the show gets renewed attention for all the wrong reasons.
Thompson is absolutely brilliant as Katherine, a cold-hearted woman completely focused on her career who takes her success, and her employees, for granted. She looks as sharp as the script, too, and seems to be revelling in this role that was written for her. If she ever wants to retire from acting, she could easily take up ‘talk-show host’ as a career! Kaling is also strong as the long-suffering but faithful sidekick, a doting fan as much as a budding writer. One can’t help but suspect that her script draws heavily on her own experience when she was an up-and-coming writer for the US version of The Office, where she was the only woman on a writing team of eight. Indeed, Late Night does occasionally stray into sit-com territory, but that might also be due to director Nisha Ganatra’s television background, but fortunately it never stays there too long.
Late Night is one of a growing list of recent movies using the talents of directors, writers and actors from an Indo-Pakistani background, films like The Big Sick, Yesterday, Stuber and the forthcoming Blinded By The Light, and it’s great to see this diversity on screen. At its heart, this is a film about accepting change, in the workplace and in society, and acknowledging the battles women face in a male dominated world. Yes, some will accuse it of being overly ‘politically correct’ but, in truth, these are issues that need to be addressed. And, to the film-makers’ great credit, they’ve done it with a laugh and a smile.
Screenwriter: Mindy Kaling
Principal cast:
Emma Thompson
Mindy Kaling
Hugh Dancy
John Lithgow
Max Casella
Amy Ryan
Country: USA
Classification: M
Runtime: 102 mins.
Australian release date: 8 August 2019
Previewed at: Paparazzi Cinema, Event Cinemas, Sydney, on 31 July 2019.
Late Night, directed by Nisha Ganatra, looks at the fragility of fame in the TV business in this sharp, smart script by Mindy Kaling, also the film’s co-star. In a medium dominated by men, Katherine Newbury (Emma Thompson) has been a female pioneer, hosting a successful late-night talk-show on US television. Utilising exclusively male writers, she is starting to get a reputation as ‘a woman who hates women’, so she is forced to hire a female to join her writing team in an attempt to lift her falling ratings and re-establish her popularity or she faces being axed. Kaling’s screenplay cleverly examines all the ‘isms’ - sexism, ageism, racism, nepotism - plus issues like white male privilege, quotas for women, ethnic diversity and a lot more. Her great strength is that she does it all in a charming and funny way.
When told by the studio boss, Caroline Morton (Amy Ryan), that she has reached her ‘use-by date’, the very prickly Newbury is incensed and vows to put up a fight, proving the network wrong. Reluctantly, she is convinced to employ Molly Patel (Mindy Kaling), an Indian-American whose only previous comedic involvement is from her amateur gag routine behind the public announcement mike at a chemical plant in Pennsylvania. Molly attempts to up-date and re-invigorate the lagging comedy skits that have always been written by Katherine’s team of white, alpha-males, most of whom have never stepped foot on the set and, indeed, have only rarely met the show’s host face-to-face. Naturally, they are resentful of the fresh blood and her concomitant new approach, not just because she’s a woman (and a woman of colour) but also because she lacks the experience in comedy they all have. And this is an essential point in Late Night. Often people stay in jobs for many years without trying new ideas, becoming ‘stuck in their ways’ and ignoring the necessity for change which, in television especially, can be terminal. Katherine’s husband, Walter (John Lithgow), suspects that this is happening to the show but he has always been supportive and remained in the background, allowing his wife to pursue her career without interfering, until the day a private email exchange of Katherine’s goes public and, suddenly, the show gets renewed attention for all the wrong reasons.
Thompson is absolutely brilliant as Katherine, a cold-hearted woman completely focused on her career who takes her success, and her employees, for granted. She looks as sharp as the script, too, and seems to be revelling in this role that was written for her. If she ever wants to retire from acting, she could easily take up ‘talk-show host’ as a career! Kaling is also strong as the long-suffering but faithful sidekick, a doting fan as much as a budding writer. One can’t help but suspect that her script draws heavily on her own experience when she was an up-and-coming writer for the US version of The Office, where she was the only woman on a writing team of eight. Indeed, Late Night does occasionally stray into sit-com territory, but that might also be due to director Nisha Ganatra’s television background, but fortunately it never stays there too long.
Late Night is one of a growing list of recent movies using the talents of directors, writers and actors from an Indo-Pakistani background, films like The Big Sick, Yesterday, Stuber and the forthcoming Blinded By The Light, and it’s great to see this diversity on screen. At its heart, this is a film about accepting change, in the workplace and in society, and acknowledging the battles women face in a male dominated world. Yes, some will accuse it of being overly ‘politically correct’ but, in truth, these are issues that need to be addressed. And, to the film-makers’ great credit, they’ve done it with a laugh and a smile.