Late Night (film)

Late Night
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Nisha Ganatra
Written by	Mindy Kaling
Produced by	Ben Browning Jessie Henderson Mindy Kaling Howard Klein
Starring	Emma Thompson Mindy Kaling Max Casella Hugh Dancy John Lithgow Denis O'Hare Reid Scott Amy Ryan
Cinematography	Matthew Clark
Edited by	Eleanor Infante
Music by	Lesley Barber
Production companies	FilmNation Entertainment 30West Imperative Entertainment 3 Arts Entertainment Kaling International
Distributed by	Amazon Studios
Release dates	January 25, 2019 (2019-01-25) (Sundance) June 7, 2019 (2019-06-07) (United States)
Running time	102 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$4 million
Box office	$249,654

Late Night is a 2019 American comedy-drama film directed by Nisha Ganatra from a screenplay by Mindy Kaling. It stars Emma Thompson, Kaling, Max Casella, Hugh Dancy, John Lithgow, Denis O'Hare, Reid Scott, and Amy Ryan. The plot follows the host of a late-night talk show who teams up with one of her new staff writers in an attempt to save the show.

The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 25, 2019, and was theatrically released in the United States on June 7, 2019 by Amazon Studios.

Premise

Legendary talk-show host Katherine Newbury (Emma Thompson) is a pioneer in her field. The only woman ever to have a long-running program on late night, she keeps her writers’ room on a short leash ― and all male. But when her ratings plummet and she is accused of being a “woman who hates women,” Katherine puts gender equality on her to-do list and impulsively hires Molly Patel (Mindy Kaling), a chemical plant efficiency expert from suburban Pennsylvania, as the first and only female on her writing staff.

With rumors swirling that Katherine is being replaced by a younger, hipper male host, she demands that the writers make her funny and relevant again. A lifelong fan, Molly is determined to prove she’s not just a diversity hire, but the one person who can turn her idol’s career around. Going against everything Katherine has staked her reputation on, she urges her to make the show more contemporary, authentic and personal, a move that could make Molly’s career ― or send her back to the chemical plant for good.

Cast

• Emma Thompson as Katherine Newbury
• Mindy Kaling as Molly Patel
• John Lithgow as Walter Newbury
• Hugh Dancy as Charlie Fain
• Reid Scott as Tom Campbell
• Max Casella as Burditt
• Denis O'Hare as Brad
• Amy Ryan as Caroline Morton
• Paul Walter Hauser as Mancusco
• John Early as Reynolds
• Megalyn Echikunwoke as Robin
• Ike Barinholtz as Daniel Tennant
• Annaleigh Ashford as Mimi Mismatch
• Halston Sage as Zoe Martlin
• Marc Kudisch as Billy Kastner
• Seth Meyers as Himself

Production

In September 2016, it was reported that Fox 2000 had bought the rights to the project, which was written by Mindy Kaling, who was also set to costar in it alongside Emma Thompson. In November 2016, Paul Feig signed on to direct the film. However, in August 2017, Nisha Ganatra was announced to direct the film when Feig dropped out due to scheduling conflicts.

In February 2018, it was reported that, in a pre-2018 Berlin Film Festival movie, 30West and FilmNation Entertainment would co-finance the film and sell distribution rights. In April 2018, John Lithgow, Hugh Dancy, Reid Scott, Paul Walter Hauser, Denis O’Hare, John Early, Max Casella and Megalyn Echikunwoke joined the cast, with filming commencing April 23, 2018 in New York. Amy Ryan joined the cast in May.

Release

Late Night had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 25, 2019. Shortly after, Amazon Studios acquired U.S. distribution rights to the film for $13 million, the largest sum paid for U.S.-only distribution at the festival.

The film was released in the United States on June 7, 2019. In May 2019, it was announced the film would begin with a limited run in Los Angeles and New York City on the planned June 7 date before going wide the following week.

Reception

Box office

In its limited opening weekend the film made $249,694 from four theaters, for a per-venue average of $62,414, the second-best of 2019.

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 82% based on 130 reviews, with an average rating of 6.81/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Smart, timely, and brought to life by a terrific cast, Late Night is a workplace comedy with a lot of heart – and just as many laughs." On Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, the film has a normalized score of 72 out of 100, based on 31 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews."

Leah Greenblatt of Entertainment Weekly praises Emma Thompson's performance, saying her "gravitas holds the center" and that "the best scenes in Late Night are consistently the ones where the movie’s main stars spar and banter and intermittently connect". Greenblatt praises director Nisha Ganatra for refreshing and classic rom-com tropes but that the tone is at times "scattershot and sometimes too sitcom-ish." Alissa Wilkinson of Vox.com says "Late Night is a workplace comedy that feels like a cousin of The Devil Wears Prada, and its greatest strength is its two lead characters". Wilkinson says: "Late Night feels underwritten in some spots, but it’s surprising in others — an unfussy, entertaining comedy with some serious matters on its mind." Richard Lawson of Vanity Fair calls it "a genial, funny movie, not a mile-a-minute behind-the-cameras gag-fest (hyphens!) like 30 Rock, but an amiable workplace comedy that finds personal definition in its influences. Sheila O'Malley of RogerEbert.com gives the film 3+1⁄2 out of 4 stars, describing the film as "An earnest and funny comedy, with very sharp teeth."

External links

• Official website
• Late Night at IMDb