Late Night (2019)

(In French, On TV, March 2022) Add Late Night to the list of films I somehow missed the first time around. The oversight is all the more curious considering that I’m something of a Mindy Kaling fan—a film in which she plays the newest employee of a late-night show host played by Emma Thompson should have triggered my radar earlier. But that’s what scouring TV listings is for! While the film doesn’t break any new ground in depicting how an out-of-touch celebrity host is gradually brought back to relevance by a plucky junior confidante, it’s a well-executed dramatic comedy that makes good use of both Kaling and Thompson’s abilities. There’s some fun in peeking inside the world of late-night show comedy writers (with Seth Meyers making an appearance as himself), especially at a moment where comedy celebrities aren’t untouchable. The script, penned by Kaling herself, is clever and funny, solidly built and executed rather well by veteran director Nisha Ganatra. It might have slipped underneath the notice of many, but Late Night is a pleasant watch, perhaps a bit too restrained for its own good, but primarily concerned with delivering a nicely wrapped package rather than aiming for the throat.