Movie · 2019 · Comedy, Drama · 1h 42m · R · English
Curator score: 5.4/10 (44.2K ratings)
They're giving comedy a rewrite.
Overview
A legendary late-night talk show host's world is turned upside down when she hires her only female staff writer. Originally intended to smooth over diversity concerns, her decision has unexpectedly hilarious consequences as the two women separated by culture and generation are united by their love of a biting punchline.
Ratings
Curator score: 5.4/10
IMDb: 6.5/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 80%
Metacritic: 70
TMDB: 6.4/10
Director
Nisha Ganatra
Production
FilmNation Entertainment, 30WEST, MK International, 3 Arts Entertainment, Imperative Entertainment
Cast
Emma Thompson, Mindy Kaling, Max Casella, Hugh Dancy, Denis O'Hare, Reid Scott, Amy Ryan, Paul Walter Hauser, John Early, John Lithgow, Megalyn Echikunwoke, Ike Barinholtz, Annaleigh Ashford, Halston Sage, Marc Kudisch, Seth Meyers, Bill Maher, Jake Tapper, Maria Dizzia, Sakina Jaffrey
Where to watch
Amazon Prime Video, Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Curator Review
Verdict
A light, likable workplace comedy with a strong central pairing and a few sharp observations about age, gender, and image management. It’s easy to watch and often charming, but it stays safer and softer than its premise suggests.
Best for
viewers who want a breezy, feel-good studio comedy
fans of workplace comedies with a female-led dynamic
people who enjoy polished performances over edgy satire
audiences looking for a smart but low-stakes watch
Skip if
you want a biting, truly subversive showbiz satire
you need big laughs or a lot of comic invention
you’re looking for a deeply authentic behind-the-scenes TV industry movie
you dislike movies that resolve conflict a little too neatly
Overview
Late Night works best as a star vehicle and a chemistry piece. Emma Thompson gives the film its bite and authority, while Mindy Kaling brings warmth, self-awareness, and a grounded sense of professional anxiety. Together they make a familiar setup feel easy and appealing, even when the script is clearly aiming for comfort more than risk.
Worth noting
The movie has a clean, crowd-pleasing rhythm and a few genuinely funny beats, but it rarely pushes hard enough into the messier or more uncomfortable territory its premise invites. Its commentary on diversity, workplace power, and generational divide is sincere, though sometimes blunt and a little too tidy.
Bottom line
As a result, it lands as a pleasant, watchable comedy-drama rather than a sharp industry satire. If you’re in the mood for something polished, brisk, and mildly uplifting, it does the job well. If you want something more incisive or chaotic, it may feel undercooked.
Top Letterboxd reviews
mia lee vicino (3★) · 904 likes
perfect for when you’re visiting your grandparents and you already went out to dinner with them which means now you don’t really have anything to do so you and your mom decide to kill time by going to a theater in a mall and seeing a light, innocuous, feel-good, inoffensive-for-an-R-rated studio comedy that has something relevant and earnest to say :)
ps. absolutely PISSED at myself for not recognizing my 3rd favorite hugh: dancy
davidehrlich (2.5★) · 679 likes
an airplane movie with a great Emma Thompson performance and some good intentions. plays WAY too safe and leaves a ton of meat on the bone. feels like something with potential that's been fleeced by people with money on their minds (for better or worse, it totally justifies that class="h-100"3 million Amazon sale).
Karsten (4★) · 490 likes
Alright this was such a good way to end my Sundance trip. It’s safe, it’s basic, but it’s very charming and actually pretty funny. After watching a bunch of really heavy things in such a short period of time, it feels nice to come back to earth a little bit and laugh at Mindy getting hit with a trash bag. Can’t tell why I teared up at the end. Was it really the movie? Was it that Maggie Rogers song? Was it the fact that I have to go back to Chicago? AHHH
SilentDawn (1.5★) · 291 likes
23
An out-of-touch movie about being out-of-touch. Excruciating.
Matt Singer (1.5★) · 255 likes
Why are movies and TV shows about the inner workings of TV comedy never funny? There isn’t a single laugh out loud joke in this entire film; there is no discernible difference between the TV show where Late Night is set when it is doing poorly and when it starts doing well. I could forgive the fact that the movie doesn’t feel like an authentic depiction of TV production, comedy writing, broadcast network politics, or the New York standup and dating scenes if it at least made me chuckle occasionally. But it didn’t.