Late Night brings the best out of Emma Thompson in a clever comedy reminiscent of Devil Wears Prada

Late night is a light, clever comedy going behind the scenes on a failing TV talk show. An imperiously precise lead performance from Emma Thompson dominates proceedings here, and is the principal reason to buy a ticket.

It is very easy to map the essential storytelling DNA threaded through Late Night.

This delightful light comedy has been engineered as a hybrid of Meryl Streep’s 2006 hit The Devil Wears Prada (but nicer, less acidic) and Tina Fey’s frenetic TV sitcom 30 Rock (but slower, less manic).

Emma Thompson in a scene from the movie Late Night. Supplied by Roadshow Films.

It is equally easy to go along with Late Night’s gentle, genial flow from start to finish.

Though the movie sometimes hints everything is about to rise to an edgier next level, the filmmakers settle for a smooth and steady approach for the most part.

An imperiously precise lead performance from Emma Thompson dominates proceedings here, and is the principal reason to buy a ticket.

Her part is definitely a Streep-ish type, but Thompson’s take is resoundingly her own.

She plays Katherine Newbury, a veteran TV talk-show host who has just been informed her long-running program of nearly 30 years is about to be taken off the air.

Emma Thompson in the film "Late Night."

It could be that her archly British sense of humour is too cerebral for American viewers. Or it could just be that Katherine - who has never used social media, and probably the internet as well - has fallen out of step with the modern world.

While her network looks for a replacement, Katherine’s producers scramble for a stay of execution by freshening up a very stale (and very male) stable of writers.

Under pressure to hire both a woman and someone who isn’t white or from an Ivy League college, a three-for-the-price-of-one candidate scores a slot on the writing team.

Molly Patel (Mindy Kaling) is vastly under-qualified for the position, but yes, you guessed it, she will be the catalyst that forces Katherine to get over herself and get with the times.

Mindy Kaling for Late Night

Aside from a brilliant Thompson, what keeps this engaging (though not always engaged) affair in an audience’s good graces is its lively scriptwriting.

Kaling actually penned this screenplay based on her own experiences working in a succession of all-male writing rooms on the US network circuit, and it lends Late Night an air of authenticity at the times it could really use it.

LATE NIGHT (M)

Rating: Three stars (3 out of 5)

Director: Nisha Ganatra (Cake)

Starring: Emma Thompson, Mindy Kaling, Amy Ryan, John Lithgow, Ike Barinholtz.

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