Hellen I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

Sammy-Jo Cervantes There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Orla Zuniga It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Benas Mcloughlin Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Robert J. Maxwell I can't tell whether this movie would be interesting to people who are wheelers and dealers, but it interested me precisely because I'm not. If I'd paid half the attention to ploying the system, squeezing the cow, as these characters do, who knows what dazzling heights I might have reached? The story is probably familiar to most viewers by now. When Johnny Carson announces his retirement from The Tonight Show, NBC has to choose between two replacements -- Jay Leno and David Letterman, who can both claim to be qualified. They choose Jay Leno, which annoys Letterman. Not that Leno and Letterman aren't friends, but their socioeconomic interests are in conflict. All sorts of wheelings and dealings go on, which end with Leno keeping The Tonight Show and Letterman moving to an opposite spot at CBS.Godzillions of dollars are involved of course, so it behooves everyone to act rationally. The problem faced by these characters -- not just the two stars but everyone else -- is defining "rational." Reason ought to lead you to achieving a goal. But suppose you have several goals, equally important, and contradictory? Is "success" measured in dollars? In self-satisfaction? In security at the expense of self expression? How much is friendship and loyalty worth? These are hard decisions to make but, fortunately, for millionaires it's not lonely at the top. There's plenty of advice.The most reasonable person -- in the sense that he is least influenced by fear or sentiment -- is Michael Ovitz, played by Treat Williams. As someone says jokingly about him, talking to him is like talking to the Godfather. "You have a problem? We can solve it." Ovitz went on, as I understand it, to head Walt Disney but has recently been involved in some sort of contretemps. I think they're kicking him out of Walt Disney and giving him two million godzillion dollars to ease the pain of his passage.The most interesting character, I thought, was Helen Kushnik, Kathy Bates. She was Jay Leno's totem person. And -- the book is more explicit about this -- she was evidently one of those people who, once in power, go completely berserk and believe that limits don't apply to them. It goes beyond pushiness. They become tyrants. I don't want to sound sexist but Kushnik's behavior takes a distinctly feminine form. The monster sacre hiding behind the stage props. Judy Garland's "stage mother." They protect and advance their clients as if the clients were some rare marketable commodity. Kushnik self destructs, as everyone predicts, but I'd have liked to know more about her.But it's also fun watching the sparring that goes on between the players. Here is Jay Leno, host of The Tonight Show, sneaking around through a garage and eavesdropping through a crack in the doorway while a discussion takes place that will decide if Leno is kept on or fired."The Late Shift" isn't about a subject that occupied much of my life space at the time this was going on, but it held my interest because it's one of those minor inexpensive kinds of projects that cable, especially HBO, does so well from time to time. If it's not quite up to the standard set by "Barbarians at the Gates" it's because it wasn't written by Larry Gelbart and it doesn't have James Garner's outrageous lead performance. "The Late Shift" sees some irony in the story but not much in the way of laughs, but that's okay too.It's a intensely thought-provoking movie too. Here is the thought it provoked. "Where in the hell was Michael Ovitz when I needed him?"

sorabji I remember this movie getting a lot of flak from reviewers when it was new. Letterman and Leno themselves had objections. Letterman called it (paraphrasing) the biggest waste of film he'd ever seen, and Leno objected to the simpleton portrayal of himself. But Letterman had John Michael Higgins as a guest on his show so it seems he didn't take anything too personally. A DVD re-release, with opinions and such from those involved, could be interesting, though I suspect the days when late night talkshow wars captivated the nation are gone and not returning soon.I preferred the Letterman impersonation to the Leno, but could never buy in to either. They never rose above caricature, and I never simply accepted them as actors. For comparison: Paul Sorvino as Kissinger in Oliver Stone's "Nixon" comes to mind as an impersonation which may have seemed laughable in the first few moments but which seemed at least plausible after the first moments of amusement wore off.The highlight of the show for me was Treat Williams as Michael Ovitz. Williams' speech to Letterman was not as great as but reminiscent of Alec Baldwin's entrance (and quick exit) as Blake in Glengerry Glen Ross. They could have done more with Johnny's role in all this. I know he was mostly uninvolved in the events portrayed in this movie, and most audiences will be familiar with his reputation such that Johnny Carson needs no introduction. But more context about why Dave and Jay and all comedians revere Johnny would have given this flick the substance it lacks in being a gossip film.Guess I should read the book...Rich Little imitating Johnny Carson, unfortunately, came across as nothing more than Rich Little imitating Johnny Carson.I tell you what, after watching this movie, then watching either the Letterman or Leno show, all I want to do is crack open my Johnny Carson DVDs and see the real thing.

mattymatt4ever Now, I'm a bit biased, since I'm a big fan of late night television. I've been a loyal fan of Jay Leno for about 6 or 7 years, and think he's one of the funniest, most talented comedians out there. And David Letterman is one hell of a comedian as well, though I only watch his show (unless Jay's a repeat) during commercials or when he has a better guest than Jay on the show. Daniel Roebuck and John Michael Higgins are both fine actors and they very much resembled Jay and Dave, but did they disappear into the characters? Nope. Roebuck barely nails down Jay's voice and expression, mumbling at a high pitch, sounding like a castrati Marlon Brando. Higgins nails down David's facial expressions (for example, his trademark squirm) but he doesn't nail down Dave's voice. Those who aren't big fans of late night TV might be a lot less biased. There's a couple comedians who can do dead-on impersonations of Jay. Why couldn't they have selected one of them for the part? And the same goes with Dave. I'd rather they had Norm McDonald play the part. Norm doesn't look a hell of a lot like Dave, but he did a great impersonation of him on SNL. "Hey...you got any gum?" That was so hilarious!However, I learned a lot about the late night wars which I had very little knowledge of at first. I never watched "The Tonight Show" prior to when Jay Leno was host, so I didn't know about the struggle to finally replace Johnny Carson and the countless negotiations that finally convinced Dave to move to CBS. I knew very little about what happened behind the scenes and found the film very enlightening. And Kathy Bates gives a knockout performance as the foul-mouthed former executive producer of "The Tonight Show." She basically steals the film. My score: 7 (out of 10)

AlabamaWorley1971 I think this movie actually has a lot of nice things to say about a lot of people (Johnny Carson, Ted Koppel), and it shows that Letterman and Leno actually liked and respected each other a lot. Treat Williams as the half-Kung Fu Master, half-Godfather-like Mike Ovitz is terrific.