An episode from the life and career of David Letterman - come on, it is - is brought to the screen in this intelligent and funny movie - a frequently laugh-out-loud one - and one that most of all is always interesting, but to nitpick, the one element that doesn't quite work is the writing around the excellent Mindy Kaling's character, a diversity hire to the all-white-male comedy writing team that is slowly but surely sending the career of Emma Thompson's David Letterman down the gurgler with its tired ideas and safe jokes: it never feels like this character is the one absolutely necessary for the change required at the show - she's female, writes a good joke, and is willing to speak truth, but the impetus for change preceded her arrival - low ratings and the threat of Letterman losing his job - so really any non-white-male might have done the trick of refreshing the writers' room? - and Mindy Kaling's character's burgeoning relationship with one of the other writers is also unnecessary, added, probably to bolster the character's wobbly presence.
★★★★☆
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