LATE NIGHT

Thompson’s Katherine Newbury is to late night talkshow hosts what Streep’s Miranda Priestly was to high-end fashion editors. But while Priestly was an evil sociopath, Newbury is simply an uncompassionate bitch. While both characters’ charming personalities are explained away by their demand for excellence, Priestly’s standard was psychotically high and unachievable, while Newbury’s is simply untenable yet aspirational. But Katherine needs a female voice on her writing staff and she needs someone who will call her on her BS - otherwise, everyone is out on their arse in favour of yet another vulgar male who believes misogyny and the idea of taking a shit in someone’s shoe is comedy gold.

Alrighty, there’s a lot to unpack here, and a lot of issues that get their share of screen time. Firstly, you should know that ‘Late Night’ is funny. It’s not a raucous laugh a minute, it’s more intelligent than that, but it is funny. And why wouldn’t it be? Kaling cut her teeth on ‘The Office’, showed she was a comedic force to be reckoned with on ‘The Mindy Project’ and now she’s gone bigger, bolder and has Emma freakin’ Thompson spouting her words. A(wo)men!

Is ‘Late Night’ a perfect film? No. It could have used a few tweaks in the edit suite, and a couple more on the page. Yes, the “woman”, “women in comedy” and “woman of colour” angles are pushed and pushed hard - but then again, isn’t that what the movie is about? Nothing is too in-your-face or shoved down your throat, but you will notice it as these are things you don’t often come across in cinema (or ever). I just would have preferred if Kaling’s character had the personal and professional résumé to be right as well as just righteous, but that’s just me. Either way, she’s great and holds her own against the dynamo force that is Thompson, relishing in her element as a smart, powerful female with a mean streak. ‘Late Night’ is definitely worth the privilege of our time.