Late Night Review by Brooke Daugherty
June 23, 2019 9:59 am |
Emma Thompson stars in this comedy about comedian Katherine Newberry, who is the only woman to have a long running nightly talk show. Unfortunately, she is surrounded by stagnant jokes, plummeting ratings, and a writers room filled with only white men. When one of Katherine’s staff points out the possibility she doesn’t like to hire other women, Molly Patel is hired although she works at a chemical plant and has no writing experience.
The white male writers room attribute Molly’s new found position as a “diversity hire”. When Katherine finds out she could be replaced at the end of the current season, she commands her writers to make her relevant so they may keep their jobs. Molly takes this opportunity to show Katherine and the writing staff what she is made of. Molly’s earnestness and honesty creates opposition with her coworkers.
Emma Thompson gives an incredible performance from comedic timing to emotional sequences. I love when her range includes comedy, she was built for it. Mindy Kaling may be a comedy phenom, but she moves the audience with her performance. All the supporting cast provide convincing performances without outshining our two stars. John Lithgow’s performance as Katherine’s husband with Parkinson’s gives dignity to the disease when the easy way out would be to use it as a joke.
Late Night is a refreshing take as it doesn’t need to use women solely as punchlines. In other comedies, the emotional scenes would be played for laughs, but this film shows misogyny, ageism, xenophobia, and inequity authentically for modern day. This stark contrast makes the humorous moments more enjoyable and the serious moments more real. The women in this film may make fun of themselves, or in Katherine’s case, let others make fun of her, but they still have agency. I found myself overcome with feelings at times, mentally cheering or booing depending on the situation.
While there are no Shyamalan twists, there are a few plot points I was glad I did not know about. The less you know going in, the better to really feel for these characters. I thoroughly enjoyed this movie and suggest you drop the cash to view while still in the theater.
PCL Rating: Tupperware
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: FRESH 🍅
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Tags: emma thompson, Late Night, Late Night 2019 Amazon Studios, Mindy Kaling, pop culture leftovers
Categorised in: Movie Reviews
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