Late Night (2019)

Directed by Nisha Ganatra. Starring Emma Thompson, Mindy Kaling, Reid Scott, Hugh Dancy, Denis O’Hare, John Lithgow, Max Casella, Paul Walter Hauser, John Early, Amy Ryan, Ike Barinholtz, Megalyn Echikunwoke. [R]

Pressured by the threat of losing her long-running late night show, Thompson insists on breaking up the all-white-male writer’s room by hiring a woman; enter earnest, inexperienced plant worker (and amateur stand-up) Kaling. Agreeably pleasant when slyly pointed would have worked better, the film overcomes its far-fetched premise (were there really no other females interviewing for the comedy writer position?) and manufactured plot developments by giving its characters and situations enough heft to warrant interest and earn the occasional chuckle. Thompson is good (what else is new?), though she’s better at playing the tart-tongued boss (à la Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada) behind the curtain and nailing the emotional scenes than selling herself as a queen of late night once she steps in front of the cameras; Kaling—better known for her skills as a writer than her screen presence and range—adequately rises above the overly familiar role of moon-eyed tenderfoot who struggles at first but ultimately (gasp!) provides exciting insight and ideas to her scoffing “expert” colleagues. Like most fictional movies about the business of comedy, the jokes that slay onscreen audiences aren’t especially funny; tough to say if this is being presented as a send-up or not.

63/100