LATE NIGHT (2019) – My rating: 8/10

Late Night is a comedy-drama directed by Nisha Ganatra from a screenplay by Mindy Kaling. Amazon Studios bought the domestic distribution rights for a record $13 million. The plot follows the host of a late-night talk show who teams up with her new female staff writer in an attempt to save her position and her career.  Late Night is definitely a feel-good movie that’s funny and heart felt, all while it’s also addressing diversity.

Legendary talk-show host Katherine Newbury (Emma Thompson) is a pioneer in her field. The only woman ever to have a long-running program on late night, she keeps her “all male” writers’ on a short leash, not even knowing their names. She is stern, unsympathetic, selfish and self centered, so after her ratings plummeted, rumors started swirling that Katherine is a “woman who hates women”.  To make matters worse, Katherine also hears she is being replaced by a younger, hipper male host Daniel Tennant (Ike Barinholtz, so she demands that her team of writers make her funny and relevant again. Katherine’s right-hand-man Brad (Denis O’Hare), under pressure, impulsively hires Molly Patel, (Mindy Kaling) a chemical plant efficiency expert from suburban Pennsylvania, as the first and only female (who, by the way, has never written comedy), to join Katherine’s writing staff.  As a lifelong fan, Molly is determined to prove she’s not just a diversity hire, but the one person who can turn her idol’s career around. Going against everything Katherine has staked her reputation on, she urges her to make the show more contemporary, authentic and personal, a move that could make Molly’s career ― or send her back to the chemical plant for good, as well as end Katherine’s career in the process.

Late Night is a charming, funny film that gives you a rest from all the current events of today.  The cast is brilliant and the chemistry between Emma Thompson and Mindy Kaling gives you all kinds of “warm fuzzzys”.  Emma brought reality to her character as she made a believer out of me.  There’s a lot more to this story. I was thoroughly entertained as I laughed, clapped and backed some policies out loud.  John Lithgow, who played Katherine’s husband Walter,  was convincing as the understanding husband who is sick but still able to mingle.  The film received positive reviews from critics, with praise for its social satire and commentary, as well as Thompson’s performance. I highly recommend Late Night to all.  There’s a good messages in it for everyone.  Check It Out!

 

THE INFILTRATOR (2016) – My rating: 8.5/10

Based on a true story, The Infiltrator tells how in the 1980s, US Customs Service special agent Robert Mazur, (Brian Stranton) helped bring down the nefarious bankers who manipulated complex international finance systems to serve drug lords,  (including Pablo Escobar) corrupt politicians, tax cheats, and terrorists. It also chronicles the rise and fall of the world’s biggest and most intricate money-laundering operation, responsible for cleaning and moving hundreds of millions of dollars a year for several cartels.  The Infiltrator shows the hard work of many different law enforcement agencies, who together accomplished the arrest of over 100 corrupt individuals, as well as closed down the The Bank of Credit and Commerce International who secretly took illegal ownership of First American Bank shares in Washington, DC.    It also paints a vivid portrait of undercover life and its many sacrifices.  Flooded with lies, near misses, and exciting escapes, The Infiltrator is as thrilling as any fiction movie, only it actually happened.  Of course there are the usual embellishments for the sake of the movie but for the most part, it’s true to life.

The movie focuses on (Bryan Cranston) as Agent Robert Mazur/Bob Musella who was married with children and used Bob Musella as his uncover name and his partner (John Leguizamo) as Agent Emir Abreu who in real life was a street smart agent who had a gift for reading people.  (Diane Kruger) as rookie Agent Kathy Ertz was brought in to play Bob’s undercover fiancé.  (Benjamin Bratt) as Roberto Alcaino was a wealthy Chilean-born jeweler who was one of the main collectors of cash for the Medellín Cartel in the United States and had direct contact with Pablo Escobar.  (Amy Ryan) as Agent and Supervisor Bonni Tischler, headed up this operation known as Operation C-Chase.  (Juliet Aubrey) as Evelyn Mazur, Robert’s wife who put up with his undercover work that took him away for months at a time.  Olympia Dukakis as Aunt Vicky, Robert’s wealthy aunt who helped as a friend, convince Roberto Alcaino she was a successful real estate investor.  All in all, there were approximately 250 law enforcement personnel who worked on Operation C-Chase.

There were some changes from the real life story but not enough to significantly change the movie.  The Infiltrator was entertaining, suspenseful and well acted.  I don’t think it got the marketing attention it should have but it was still a good movie worth seeing.

 

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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE (2016) – My rating: 7.2/10

You know it’s summer when the movie fill ins start. Central Intelligence is one of them. While it’s not a bad movie, it’s not a great one either. It is funny but so unbelievable that it’s stupid. Grant you, it’s not predictable but that’s because it not believable. You wouldn’t be able to figure out the plot because there’s nothing realistic about it. The good news is the chemistry between Hart and Johnson is better than most comedy teams I’ve seen. They seem to have a genuine like for each other, which makes for a great comedy team. I found Central Intelligence to be entertaining even though it bordered on slap stick, which I’m not a fan of.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson plays Bob Stone a CIA agent accused of murder and espionage. He also plays the younger version of himself, Robbie Weirdicht, an overweight high school student who is bullied with no friends. The makeup job that was done on The Rock was one of the most fantastic transformations I’ve ever seen. It’s so good, I’ve posted a picture of the Robbie Weirdicht character to show the result of the skill that went into the making of this character.  Kevin Hart plays Bob’s only best friend from HS, Calvin Joyner who turned out to be an accountant and married his high school sweetheart, Maggie Joyner (Danielle Nicolet).  Their journey is filled with lots of twist and turns including the FBI hunting them down.  Bob’s boss, FBI Agent Pamela Harris, (Amy Ryan) believes Bob has gone rogue and will stop at nothing to arrest him.  While Bob is in the fight of his life, he has recruited an unwilling Calvin to help him.  As usual, Kevin Hart is loud and over the top but teaming up with the Rock makes for a more tolerable and interesting partnership and comedy.  Again, Central Intelligence is by no means a great movie but if you have nothing else to do, it’s entertaining at best.