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Late Night
****
Dir: Nisha Ganatra
Starring: Emma Thompson, Mindy Kaling
(USA, 15, 1hr 42mins)
Emma Thompson pairs well with Mindy Kaling in this late-night chat-show comedy with a mission. Thompson plays TV host Katherine Newbury whose show is on the ropes. Needing something to prop it up, a writer’s room not full of all-white male writers might be the problem.
She decides to enforce some affirmative action and escape the criticism that her long running show is a dinosaur. Along comes Mindy Kaling’s Molly Patel, a woman of colour used to entertaining people at the chemical plant she works in and rocketed to the misogynistic writer’s room to add pep to the proceedings.
A big fan of the show, it’s a dream come true for Molly to writer for her, but it’s not going to be easy. Katherine is on her way out, with low ratings and a loss of relevance. Kaling decides to confront that head on, writing more edgy material that works and perhaps strike a blow for the under-represented in the industry in the process.
Thompson is guarded, Kaling cheery and optimistic and together they make a winning double act, sparking off each other well. The film is a crowd pleaser, with Thompson relishing her one-liners and adding weight and gravitas to her feminist host. The film treads similar territory to the excellent TV series{30 Rock}, if not quite so gag-filled or surreal and Kaling, herself the only woman writer on {The Office} (USA) is clearly writing her screenplay from experience. As always, the generation of comedy which an onscreen audience finds hilarious is often suspect, but this does not take the shine off an engaging comedy with an agenda that speaks to the #MeToo and diversity movement with wit and class.
words Keiron Self
Opens June 7