Late Night (2019)
Genre: Comedy / Drama
Duration: 102 minuten
Country:
United States
Directed by: Nisha Ganatra
Stars: Emma Thompson, Mindy Kaling and John Lithgow
IMDb score:
6,5 (43.876)
Releasedate: 25 January 2019
Late Night plot
"They're giving comedy a rewrite."
The world of Katherine, a legendary late night talk show host, is turned upside down when she hires her only female writer. Initially, this is intended to smooth out concerns about diversity. However, her decision has unexpectedly hilarious consequences, as the two women, different in culture and generation, are united by their penchant for a biting punchline.
Actors and actresses
Katherine Newbury
Molly Patel
Burditt
Charlie Fain
Walter Newbury
Brad
Tom Campbell
Caroline Morton
Mancusco
Reynolds
Reviews & comments
scorsese
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- 13622 messages
- 11400 votes
A decent film in which a once-successful late-night show host loses her connection with the audience. It is not exactly original and therefore predictable. It is easy to watch, though the humor could have been a bit sharper. Emma Thompson is well-cast and Mindy Kalling, who is also responsible for the script, delivers an entertaining performance.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Shadowed
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- 11928 messages
- 7006 votes
Oh.
Late Night is a textbook example of a film carried by a single actress. Thompson is a professional actress, and she demonstrates that once again here. However, I do have a specific problem with Thompson. That problem is that I don't find her funny, and never have.
In this film, too, she regularly tries her best to land some jokes, but not a single one really lands. The entire first half is primarily comedy, of which literally not a single joke manages to land. This is also because Kaling acts terribly. She seemed to have recoiled from the other, more famous crew members, as she appears quite nervous. This results in a restrained performance from which much is expected but which fails to deliver on anything.
As a result, the first half quickly feels empty. Visually, there is nothing to write home about, but that is somewhat less applicable in a comedy. Nevertheless, the film's bareness is immediately noticeable. Classically put together and executed, it is neither fresh nor striking at all. Because of this, Late Night is essentially doomed from the start not to attract too many viewers.
As soon as it starts leaning more towards drama, the film shifts again, mainly because Thompson acts strongly. Some scenes are suddenly better, and so the film manages to land somewhat reasonably on its feet after all. In any case, everything works just a bit better in the second half, making the very mediocre first half somewhat forgivable quite quickly.
Still, this remains a mediocre film, in which very few jokes manage to land. Thompson acts strongly and carries the film, but the very mediocre comedy fails to sufficiently compensate for the film's reasonable dramatic side or Thompson's performance. A film you will quickly forget as far as I'm concerned; you won't really miss anything by not watching it.
Translated from Dutch · View original
Sergio Leone
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- 4499 messages
- 3181 votes
Meh.
Late Night starts off okay – Emma Thompson gets to do her thing and does it fine. Mindy Kaling is a bit less talented, but I actually didn't really find myself getting annoyed by her either. The film moves along smoothly and her character stays pretty much in the background. After all, quite a few weak side plots pop up. However, that is where the film loses its way a bit. The momentum disappears and it drags on towards a very lousy ending. Subtlety seems non-existent when the diversity moral is rammed down even harder.
2.5
Translated from Dutch · View original
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