Directed by: Nisha Ganatra
Starring: Emma Thompson, Mindy Kaling, John Lithgow, Reid Scott, Amy Ryan, Hugh Dancy, Ike Barinholtz, Denis O' Hare, Max Casella
Katherine Newbury has been a network late night talk show host for 28 years and won 43 Emmys, but the ratings have been in decline for ten years. The network's new president (Ryan) tells Katherine this is her last year as host, with an hipper, edgier comedian (Barinholtz) taking the reins in hopes of attracting a younger audience. Katherine isn't easy to work with. She is stubborn, doesn't know any of her writers by name (or even that her favorite one died seven years ago), and in the words of her husband and others, she has become complacent. With the news of her imminent demise as host, Katherine takes a hands-on approach to dealing with her writing staff, but still won't bother to learn their names. She refers to them as numbers.
There is also criticism directed towards Katherine that her writing staff is made up strictly of white males, so a token diversity hire is made. That person is Molly Patel (Kaling), who has no comedy writing experience and works as a quality control engineer in a chemical plant. Don't dare call it a factory, because Molly will correct you immediately. Molly doesn't exactly endear herself to her new boss or colleagues. She lists what is wrong with the show, but doesn't offer any solutions to fix the problems, so Katherine lays into her. The veteran writer with whom she shares an office gives her sage advice, "Start writing,"
She writes one joke during the entire duration of the movie, a variation of George Carlin's joke about how people who are against abortion are those you wouldn't want to f*** in the first place. More credit is given to Molly's comedy writing skills than is ever displayed, but no matter. Molly's place in Late Night isn't to write or necessarily be funny, but to help break Katherine loose from the constraints she puts on herself and her show. (Get on Twitter, go out on the street and interview people, stray from the host-guest format). Late night talk shows are no longer simply monologue, then interviewing guests formats. The guests are forced to take part in skits, and they oblige, but I think I can hear their teeth gritting the entire time.
I expected more of an edge to Late Night. It brushes on topics such as sexism, diversity, and how women are viewed in previously male-dominated office settings, but it relies on safe formula instead of pushing the envelope. There isn't much bite. Kaling, who wrote the screenplay, yields to Katherine much more dimension than she gives Molly. We don't see for ourselves how Katherine managed to stay a late night host for 28 years. She is much more colorful behind the scenes than she is in front of the camera, and Thompson has a ball as the aloof, arrogant Katherine. We don't witness what the big deal about Katherine is. Like Molly's writing chops (or even the staff's for that matter), we have to take it on faith that she is indeed talented enough to be worth the hassle.
There are also some tender scenes between Katherine and her husband Walter (Lithgow), a musician stricken with Parkinson's Disease. Many of Lithgow's scenes involve Walter giving Katherine honest assessments of the show and rooting her on from the sidelines. But Lithgow is still a warm, genial presence, and I wish there was more of him in the movie. I also enjoyed Max Casella as Burditt, the longest-tenured writer on the show who treats Molly which much more respect than the younger, hipper writers do.
Late Night is a genial comedy which plays nice when it should have more teeth. It maintains an amusing tone, but the stakes never really appear to be too high. Katherine's future is never in doubt, nor is Molly's, and while it's all rather sweet, it's all rather safe as well.
No comments:
Post a Comment