LATE NIGHT (2019)

There is no denying that Emma Thompson is a powerhouse talent. The woman can do anything. And yet, for all her formidable skill she has always retained an approachable air. Which all goes out the window in her latest gem. Imagine if icy carnivore Miranda Priestley from THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA somehow got even more ravenous. And imagine if put-upon Andie Sachs was Mindy Kaling. The result would be LATE NIGHT.

Thompson plays Katherine Newbury, who is sort of the Queen of, um, Late Night. Yes, she’s a talk show host that is like a cross between David Letterman and Maleficent. Needless to say, her staff of male writers lives in fear of her.  In fact, she doesn’t even know their names. She prefers to refer to them as Number 1, Number 2, Number 3, etc. A warm, fuzzy working environment, this is not. 

Into this morass comes bright-eyed, idealistic Molly Patel (Mindy Kaling). Which is basically like a lone seal wandering right into middle of a Great White Shark block party. Speaking of white, Molly is not only the only woman on the writing staff, but also the only person of color. Needless to say, poor Molly’s job of proving herself is cut out for her. Not only does she have to deal with sexist a-holes on her team, she has to also endure Katherine (the sole other female) and her sub-zero barbs.  

Of course, anyone who has seen THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA knows what will happen next: chilly boss gradually comes to respect earnest employee. However, LATE NIGHT does that movie one better by making the journey a lot more detailed - and hilarious. Thompson displays impeccable comic timing and Kaling matches her line for line. The evolution of their characters’ relationship never feels artificial or forced.  A lot of this has to do with the script (written by Kaling) providing Katherine with a refreshing dose of humanity under her frosty, hard-nosed exterior. 

John Lithgow provides dignified support as Katherine’s loyal long-time love, while Reid Scott, Max Casella, Hugh Dancy, and Denis O’Hare are great in their individuals roles as Katherine’s long-suffering long-time writers. Ultimately, though, LATE NIGHT belongs to Mindy Kaling and Emma Thompson. It’s great to see a movie written by women for women in the normally testosterone-driven summer movie season. It should be noted that the film is also directed by a woman: Nisha Ganatra. And she does an excellent job. Bravo, ladies...

MIDSOMMAR (2019)

Ari Aster made a big splash in 2018 with the release of HEREDITARY, which was basically ORDINARY PEOPLE gone very, very, VERY bad.  Aster’s follow-up, MIDSOMMAR, is basically THE WICKER MAN, Millenial-style, with elements of your basic Rural Slasher thrown in.  Now, while we liked HEREDITARY because of just how weird it was, in our opinion it ultimately finished somewhat weaker than it started.

MIDSOMMAR, on the other hand, follows the reverse trajectory. It starts out relatively normal - then gets progressively odder and stranger, until we are squarely in bizarro land up until the final frames. Florence Pugh plays troubled protagonist Dani, a twenty-something grad student whose hunky boyfriend Christian (hunky Jack Reynor) vacillates between inattentive to downright dismissive of her.  However, when Dani suffers a terrible family tragedy (and believe us when we say it is terrible) Christian can’t pull the Uncaring Prick routine anymore without looking like, well, an uncaring prick.

Reluctantly, Christian allows Dani to tag along with him and his similarly self-absorbed Bro Pack on a summer back-packing trip to Northern Sweden. They consist of Mark (Will Poulter), Josh (William Jackson Harper), and Pelle (Wilhelm Blomgren). It should be pointed out that this whole trip was Pelle’s idea, who is from the Swedish region the guys will be visiting. Unfortunately, with the exception of Pelle, none of other dudes seem to be crazy about Dani coming along.

Once in rural Sweden, the group find themselves in Pelle’s hometown, surrounded by Shiny Happy People awash in garlands and good cheer.  That would have been my first glaring red flag.  Alas, no one in the group, which now includes British tourists Connie (Ellora Torchia) and Simon (Archie Madekwe), seems to be perturbed by the weirdos around them. And so they stay. From that point forward, MIDSOMMAR follows some familiar beats as the city-dwellers gradually realize - duh - that things are decidedly less benign than they seem. However, Aster puts fresh spins on the developments so the dread escalates beautifully instead of flatlining as they might under another director.

One reason we prefer MIDSOMMAR over HEREDITARY is that the latter started out very unconventionally - then proceeded to become more and more conventional. By contrast, the former sets the stage for what seems like yet another Young Adults In Mortal Peril Overseas scenario (think TURISTAS, AND SOON THE DARKNESS, HOSTEL, etc.) - but then becomes more and more claustrophobic. Which is saying something because the story unfolds in the golden open spaces washed by the endless Swedish summer sun. Sadly, MIDSOMMAR will likely suffer in comparison to the somewhat overrated HEREDITARY because people may view it as just another slasher movie.

It isn’t.  Go see it.  It just may put you off traveling outside city limits anywhere.

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