Late Night

twenty-for-seven: #3 (Day1)

2019, d. Nisha Ganatra - AmazonPrime

I was a fan of The Mindy Project, the Mindy Kaling-created, starring, and show-run rom-com sitcom.  I likewise found Kaling's humour collections and early sitcom very funny.  I'm a fan, I think she's pretty great.  So I had high hopes for Late Night, her first major screenplay, about a female late night talk show host facing obsolescence.

This is an intriguing premise because, in the world of late night tv, we have never had a female host at a major network, at least not of any duration. Chelsea Handler had a late night show on E!, which was as close as it's been.  There's such potential to explore the reality of this situation, the sexism within the industry and the struggles that maybe such a position would face.

But the film seems disinterested in such a topic.  Emma Thompson plays the lead role, a celebrated television icon, winner of dozens of awards over a 27 year run.  There's no actual question about her place in the comedy sphere or on late night television.  So rather than any institutionalized conflict around gender biases, she is instead facing something different, declining ratings and cultural irrelevance.

Her writing staff, comprised entirely of middle-aged white males, is phoning it in, and its here where the institutionalized sexism (and racism) is flagged as a problem.  The show's producer is tasked with finding a diversity hire, which brings Kaling into the fold.  She has minimal standup experience, few writing samples and no history in the business.  But she makes the producer laugh with a sharply observed joke in their interview and gets hired, much to the suspicion of the hegemony in the writers room.

Kaling shakes things up, in good and bad ways and the film alternates between her trials by fire and Thompson's struggles at finding new relevance, and their mutual impact on each other. 

The structure and story progression is so predictable that I found myself screaming for something original to happen.  It would be more forgivable if the film were funnier, but it's actually more of a light drama than comedy.

It's remarkable that Amazon paid such a large sum (14million) on this expecting a massive breakthrough hit.  This is a small film with a solid, charming cast (Thompson, Kaling, John Lithgow, Hugh Dancy), but it doesn't make any daring choices, and seems to avoid higher stakes commentary.

Overall, disappointing.