Late Night

Yesterday I saw Late Night, starring Mindy Kaling and Emma Thompson.

Molly (Kaling) works at a chemical plant, loves comedy and wants to be a writer. She applies for a position at a Late Night television show where Katherine (Thompson) is an aging, out-of-touch host. Because they need a “diversity hire” she gets the job—never mind the fact she has no experience in the industry.

Soon she’s adapting to an otherwise all-male writers’ room full of egos and habits that are hard to break, plus the abuse that comes from the top, as the boss is resistant to change, though her ratings are steadily dropping.

Molly has fresh ideas and she’s not afraid to share them, which gets her into some trouble, but she is undeterred. As Katherine’s situation becomes worse and worse, she has to decide whether or not to listen to Molly or potentially lose her show.

Mindy's character has the potential to be annoying, but isn't in the least and Emma's has the potential to be one-note, yet is refreshingly multi-dimensional. And the men—even the bros—have redemptive qualities, though they could have easily been written as stereotypically awful.

Put simply: this perfectly paced, satisfying film was such a welcome reprieve from the world that I almost turned around and bought a ticket to see it again upon its end. It's that great.

We need more films like this. Films that have a basic beginning, middle and end yet don't feel like fluff and allow us to care about the characters because there is something about them that is worth caring about.

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