Saturday Night Live, which premiered on October 11 1975, has become a cultural institution for nearly 50 years. It was revolutionary when it first aired, a group of young unknowns coming together to do something fresh and risky. The new movie Saturday Night dramatizes the fraught 90 minutes leading up to the pilot episode. So much could have gone wrong and, according to this, it all did. There is a lot of drama here, including issues with the cast, lighting, sets, script, basically anything that could cause problems does. The pacing is fast and tense, odd for a dramedy, mimicking the pressure everyone involved no doubt felt in making sure this thing made it to air.
It isn’t as funny as would probably be expected, especially considering the comedic talent being portrayed onscreen, but there are definitely amusing moments amid the chaos. The sprawling cast is believable as these recognizable faces and the script does a decent job establishing what is at stake. It is entertaining. Yet the movie practically disappears as it unfolds.
It is so full of the capital I Importance of its subject matter, with many references to how groundbreaking this show will be. Though it absolutely was, hammering that point home repeatedly for 101 minutes (minus the end credits) is more than this thin script can handle. It treats Lorne Michaels as some kind of hero, as opposed to simply being an incredibly influential producer. Saturday Night is enjoyable as a time capsule, while not being quite as interesting as a story as it thinks it is.
The movie mostly follows young producer Lorne Michaels beginning at 10:00PM as he urgently attempts to get his passion project ready to be performed live on NBC at 11:30PM. That consists of managing egos, making script changes, dealing with network execs and trying to prevent the set from collapsing.
Jason Reitman, who directed/cowrote, keeps his camera moving for a lot of the run time. Through hallways, across sets, into elevators, dressing rooms, the control room, the camera generally trails Lorne from disaster to disaster. It is exciting initially, taking the audience into how it feels to produce a live show. It is a tightrope walk with no net underneath. Every decision Lorne makes, or puts off, or doesn’t make, could determine the fate of his show. It is also like walking through history, seeing these people and this studio before they became iconic. That aspect of Saturday Night works, even if the SNL cast never become more than just the idea of their personas.
It is fun to see Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, John Belushi, Billy Crystal, George Carlin, Andy Kaufman, et al, played by actors who bear a striking resemblance and mostly have the mannerisms down. However, eventually, it becomes clear that there isn’t much to them. None of them have their own arcs, except for Garrett Morris, who kind of does, and thus stands out more than anyone else. They are there to make Lorne Michaels panic and give him stuff to react to.
Lorne is a decently drawn character, desperate, devoted, focused, trying to hide how terrified he is that this won’t work. The only non-show thing we learn about him is that he is still in love with his estranged wife, Rosie, who is one of his writers. While Gabriel LaBelle, as Lorne, and Rachel Sennott, as Rosie, have good chemistry, there is no time for quiet, personal, conversations. There is a series to launch!
Saturday Night is not based directly on a book or anything written by Lorne Michaels, but you would be excused for thinking it was. A lot has been written about Saturday Night Live over the years, and Reitman and cowriter Gil Kenan interviewed surviving members of the cast and crew as they were putting this movie together. It is pretty obvious the majority of their recollections were positive, especially when it comes to Lorne. He is a regular, nice, guy, who just so happens to be making history by doing what he loves. If Reitman and Kenan left it at that, it may have been more successful. Instead, it is good while it lasts, and instantly forgettable.
3¼ out of 5
Cast:
Gabriel LaBelle as Lorne Michaels
Cooper Hoffman as Dick Ebersol
Rachel Sennott as Rosie Shuster
Cory Michael Smith as Chevy Chase
Dylan O’Brien as Dan Aykroyd
Tommy Dewey as Michael O’Donoghue
Lamorne Morris as Garrett Morris
Ella Hunt as Gilda Radner
Matt Wood as John Belushi
Kim Matula as Jane Curtin
Emily Fairn as Laraine Newman
Directed by Jason Reitman
Written by Gil Kenan and Jason Reitman
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