'Late Night' Review

Synopsis: A late-night talk show host's world is turned upside down when she hires her first and only female staff writer. Originally intended to smooth over diversity concerns, her decision brings about unexpected consequences as the two women who are separated by culture and generation become united by their love of a biting punchline.

Runtime: 102 minutes

MPAA Rating: R (for language throughout and some sexual references)

Who should see it? Teenage and adult fans of comedies.

Mindy Kaling's been a rising star in Hollywood since her days on The Office, but Late Night is her first feature-length screenplay despite her numerous credits as an actress, writer, and producer. Aside from writing Late Night, Kaling co-starred and produced Amazon Studios' latest comedy which tackles diversity in the workplace and cancel culture among other relevant topics. Directed by Nisha Ganatra, Late Night is plenty topical. Though some may perceive it as "too woke," Ganatra and Kaling tastefully navigate the subject matter, and it was refreshing to glimpse these issues from the perspective of women of color. Obviously, I am neither of those things, so credit to Ganatra and Kaling for successfully immersing me in this story so that I'd be more sympathetic to their outlook. Kaling doesn't omit other viewpoints though. Some of the other late-night show writers push back against her character Molly, but not always in an antagonistic manner. Kaling doesn't reduce these nuanced conversations to black-and-white discrepancies.

The story itself is relatively simple and lighthearted but handled with such sincerity that you can't help but be swept up by it all. There's an authenticity to the situations Molly encounters as she tries to navigate an unfamiliar, merciless work environment, and the dialogue feels genuine rather than an implementation of forced humor for the sake of cracking a joke. Despite its classification as a comedy, Late Night includes some hard-hitting emotional beats and doesn't stray away from the reality of these situations though. Kaling's script is honest and profound, which is why I deemed the superficial epilogue a tad disappointing. The last few minutes simply provided an unrealistic, optimistic outcome.

As Katherine Newbury, Emma Thompson presents a convincing and layered portrayal of a late-night television personality. Thompson demonstrates an exuberance whenever Newbury's in the public eye, a fierce tenacity in the workplace, and tender vulnerability in her time alone. Playing Newbury's husband diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, John Lithgow turns in an excellent supporting turn, and his scenes shared with Thompson are wonderfully sincere.

Opposite Thompson, Mindy Kaling's Molly is a warm, endearing presence. Kaling strikes an ideal balance between a timid new hire and persistent, hard-working individual. Viewers see her respond to harsh surroundings with both apprehension and an emboldened spirit, but Kaling's depiction of these seemingly contradictory traits feels true to the character and situations she finds herself in. Meanwhile, Hugh Dancy, Reid Scott, Denis O'Hare, Max Casella, Paul Walter Hauser, and Ike Barinholtz each are charming additions to the cast as a series of secondary characters.

Late Night casts its spotlight on a marginalized perspective to tell a tale full of laughs, social commentary, and sincerity. In an unexpected turn of events, Late Night is one of the year's most delightful films. I'd advise staying up and tuning in!

Film Assessment: A-

Throwback Thursday Review: 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes'

Sorry for what may seem like a drastic delay on all three of my Planet of the Apes reviews but I wanted to be sure and publish them in the order of Rise, Dawn, and War. Anyways, this week I'm reviewing Rise of the Planet of the Apes and revisiting Dawn of the Planet of the Apes to coincide with this weekend's release of War for the Planet of the Apes. Next week I'll be reviewing Inception as my Throwback Thursday Review and possibly doing a Triple-R over Interstellar to tie in with Nolan's new war film Dunkirk. Reviews you can expect to see for the remainder of the month include a Throwback Thursday Review of Shaun of the Dead in addition to reviews of new releases Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets, The Emoji Movie, and Atomic Blonde.

'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' Review

Nominated For: Best Visual Effects.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes follows Gen-Sys scientist Will Rodman as he develops a drug to cure his father's Alzheimer's disease and enhance brain cells. After a mishap with one of the exemplary ape test subjects "Bright Eyes," Rodman's program is put on the back-burner and all the apes are ordered to be put-down. However, a baby chimpanzee is discovered that inherited Bright Eyes' intelligence that is then given to Rodman. Rodman secretly continues his research, raising the competent chimp he's named Caesar in his own home. As Caesar's intellect increases, Caesar starts to question humanity's hierarchy and an ape insurrection begins. 

Rise of the Planet of the Apes is directed by Rupert Wyatt with a screenplay penned by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. Wyatt had a difficult task ahead of him considering he had to essentially reboot and revitalize a franchise that had previously only spiraled downward into obscurity. So rather than actually try and remake the 1968 sci-fi classic (akin to Tim Burton's effort in 2001), Wyatt and his screenwriters chose to take the riskier route and explain how the ape incursion began. Now genre fans aren't too fond of the term "prequel" since it's most often associated with the maligned Star Wars prequel trilogy but Wyatt succeeded in the vein George Lucas was unable to. 

Wyatt balances quiet character-driven scenes with simian spectacle appropriately so you wind up invested in an army of apes overtaking the Golden Gate Bridge. Where Lucas occasionally went adrift in trying to push the CG-envelope forward, Wyatt ensure the ground-breaking visual effects always elevate the material. Thanks to the talented vfx artists at Weta and marvelous motion-capture equipment, Wyatt is able to draw out powerful performances from Andy Serkis and his ape ensemble. The visual effects are a little spotty in some areas where the apes clearly resemble digital avatars but for the most part Ceasar and his band of primates authentically echo actual apes. 

The film may be titled Rise of the Planet of the Apes, but it more accurately represents Andy Serkis' ascension to becoming a household name in the business of acting via motion-capture. Serkis broke new ground in 2002 with his Middle Earth mo-cap portrayal of Gollum before gallivanting around as a twenty-five foot tall gorilla in King Kong (2005), but the character of Caesar may exhibit all the understated elements of Serkis' range via motion-capture. Serkis demonstrates all the characteristics of a chimpanzee but successfully layers an underlying brilliance and emotional resonance on top of the monkey mannerisms. Serkis and Caesar seem almost inseparable in these Planet of the Apes prequels but the ensemble behind him composed of Karin Konoval, Terry Notary, Richard Ridings, Christopher Gordon, Devyn Dalton, and Jay Caputo each offer an inspired take on various primates. 

One of the things I found myself questioning towards the film's finale was how that many apes managed to come from three locations. Once they escape, the ranks rapidly expand unrealistically. I understand Caesar freed apes from the primate facility, local zoo, and the Gen-Sys laboratory but the army seemed vastly over-exaggerated in comparison to the number of apes shown before the escape.

Oddly enough, the apes are so compellingly created though that they're a hair more humanistic than the actual human characters. James Franco serves the story sufficiently, allowing Will Rodman to be an emotional touchstone of the story while Freida Pinto is relegated to looking pretty on the fringes of the script. Pinto is confined to basically being no more than a love interest who also happens to be a veterinarian. John Lithgow on the other-hand brings forth a tragic take on Alzheimer's which is positioned as the dense emotional arc and Lithgow handles the material well. 

Meanwhile, you thought Tom Felton's Draco Malfoy was despicable? Well Felton proves he can drive the cruelty up a notch as a callous chimp handler and Brian Cox, Jamie Harris, Tyler Labine, and David Oyelowo fill the remaining ranks of the human cast worth mentioning. 

In summary, Rise of the Planet of the Apes holds up thanks to fantastic visual effects that both enhanced the sensational storytelling and exceptional acting on display. The script slouches a tad in its depiction of certain human characters and the visual effects is occasionally aged but Rise of the Planet of the Apes is still able to pound its chest proudly as one of the posh, premier prequels.

Film Assessment: B+