Empire Australia - 08.2019

ON SCREEN

VERDICTLate Nightis sharply written and

warmly enjoyable, with Kaling and Thompson

on endearing form. But a few extra knock-out

gags and a clearer focus would really help it in

the ratings.

LATE NIGHT

DIRECTORNisha Ganatra

CASTEmma Thompson, Mindy Kaling, John

Lithgow, Ike Barinholtz

PLOTFêted US talk-show host Katherine Newbury

(Thompson) is losing the ratings war, so demands

a woman be added to the all-male writers room.

Enter former chemical plant worker Molly Patel

(Kaling) whose ideas — and jokes — could save the

show, or at least Katherine herself.

OUT8 AUGUST

CERTM/102 MINS

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[FILM]

AS A VETERAN comedy writer onThe Office

(US) and her ownThe Mindy Project, who better

than Mindy Kaling to script a comedy-drama

about the pitfalls and privilege of the male-

dominated media?Late Night, her feature-writing

debut, is a smart piece of work that manages to

weave notions of glass ceilings, internalised

misogyny and the need for diversity through

nearly every strand, without ever feeling preachy.

The film already imagines a moderately more

progressive world than ours — among the roster of

hit US talk shows is ‘Tonight With Katherine

Newbury’ (in reality, women late-night hosts

remain a rarity). But for all that Newbury

(Thompson) is a seasoned pro with nearly 30 years

in the business, her show has grown stale — she

offers nothing different from her male competitors,

strays away from personal politics and avoids

anything boundary-pushing. As a result, her

ratings are slipping and the network is threatening

a new host in the shape of the seemingly affable

but low-key sexist Daniel Tennant (Barinholtz).

Into all this comes aspiring comedy writer Molly

Patel (Kaling), who can’t even get her foot in the

door without being a literal competition winner.

For Newbury, she’s a tokenistic diversity hire to

reinvigorate her all-male writing staff, but Patel is

determined to prove her merit, having finally been

given an opportunity.

It’s a timely and potent set-up for a

workplace comedy, and the greatest strength of

Kaling’s screenplay is its centring of Katherine

and Molly — two women working within the

constraints of an inherently sexist work culture.

Thompson is brilliantly acerbic, dialling up the

boss-from-hell dynamic with a stack of withering

glares. Kaling is her ideal foil — Molly is sweet

and idealistic, her inexperience allowing her to

think outside of the confines Newbury has found

herself in over time. Their growing friendship

brings fun twists on tropes usually reserved for

chalk-and-cheese romcoms — especially a witty

equivalent of the final-reel dash.

Elsewhere, a dramatic sub-plot involving the

strained relationship between Newbury and her

Parkinson’s-afflicted husband Walter (Lithgow)

is shot through with empathy and emotion,

adding dimensions to both characters, but it

nearly unbalances the film. Come the finale, it’s

unclear whether Patel’s personal journey, the

friendship between Patel and Newbury or

Newbury’s relationship with her husband is the

story’s true emotional core. While a romantic

sub-plot for Patel is admirably sidelined — the

more valuable relationship here is one of female

friendship — its eventual presence feels

unnecessary and underdeveloped.

Still,Late Nightis a pivot to the big screen with

purpose from Kaling, providing a steady stream

of warm and witty gags, even if it lacks belly

laughs. Hopefully its presence helps effect the

sort of change that the film itself espouses,

regarding who exactly gets to tell these stories.

BEN TRAVIS

Thompson smiled at Fallon’s

suggestion of Beer Pong,

but inside she was quietly dying.

THE AUSTRALIAN DREAM

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RATEDTBC/22 AUGUST/106 MINS

DIRECTORDaniel Gordon

CASTAdam Goodes, Stan Grant,

Linda Burney, Gilbert McAdam

You may have heard of Adam Goodes by

now, but in case you haven’t, here’s what

you need to know about the man at the

centre of this new documentary.

First and foremost, he’s a proud

Indigenous Australian, and an

inspirational Australian full-stop.

He made a name as a great of

Australian Rules Football at the Sydney

Swans from 1999 to 2015, where he twice

won premierships and twice won the

game’s highest individual honour, the

Brownlow Medal.

Thirdly, a series of events from 2013

to 2015 led to his premature departure

from the game.

You see (only) those years of

Goodes’ career explored in greater detail

in Ian Darling’s comparably essentialThe

Final Quarter, which was screened at this

year’s Sydney Festival and on free-to-air

Australian television in July 2019.

The Australian Dreamalso discusses

those moments – an incident where

a young girl racially vilifies Goodes

during a game; Goodes being named

Australian of the Year; the consequent,

incessant booing of Goodes by

opposition supporters at every Swans

game and, on one occasion, the player’s

spectacular reaction to his treatment –

but this film goes much deeper into the

dark heart of racism in Australia.

It explores the treatment of

Indigenous Australians both in the

sporting arena and away from it and

doesn’t pull any punches, whether via

archival footage or through new

interviews with the likes of journalist

Stan Grant (who also wrote the film),

TV and AFL personality Eddie McGuire

(still desperately attempting to remove

the last traces of his foot from his

mouth) and most notably Goodes

himself, a man who clearly still loves

his country despite everything that

has happened.

It’s a film that all Australians must

see if they’re to come even slightly close

to understanding the manifestations,

nuances and impact of racism in this

country. It will shock, disgust and in some

instances shame viewers, but it will more

importantly and necessarily teach and

inspire.GEORGE PALATHINGAL