Saturday Night: Film Review
As a British person, I’ve never fully understood the appeal of Saturday Night Live. Some sporadic sketches make me chuckle but I don’t generally get its sense of humour. Despite this, I was interested in learning about its origins with Jason Reitman‘s new comedy Saturday Night.
The film is set on 11th October 1975, when the first-ever episode aired in America. It is specifically set in the 90 minutes before it goes live at 11.30pm. The studio is in absolute mayhem, they are nowhere near prepared, and creator and producer Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LaBelle) has to solve all the problems, convince the network it’s broadcast-ready and figure out exactly what the show is.
There isn’t a plot exactly or a traditional three-act structure. The film generally follows Michaels as he walks around the building dealing with problem after problem. John Belushi (Matt Wood) disappears, the running order is three hours and he needs to cut sketches, host George Carlin (Matthew Rhys) isn’t happy, the censor wants to cut jokes and the lighting director quits (to name a few!) These snags just keep piling on top of one another and Michaels is pulled in every direction trying to put out fires (sometimes literally). It is pure chaos and I felt very stressed.
LaBelle, who had a breakout role with The Fabelmans, carries Saturday Night as Michaels. He is flying by the seat of his pants and making decisions that should have been figured out days before. It’s all very last minute but he manages to keep a cool head despite things falling apart. He has faith that his show will work and his steely determination carries him through. He’s the only character we feel some sort of connection with because he has the most screen time.
By contrast, there are so many characters in this movie that they just pop up here and there, almost in like little sketches of their own. I didn’t care for anybody but I quite enjoyed Rachel Sennott as radiant writer Rosie Shuster (Michaels’s wife), Corey Michael Smith as the egotistical Chevy Chase, Ella Hunt as spunky comedian Gilda Radner and Willem Dafoe as an NBC executive who ultimately decides to air the show. I can’t speak on their accuracy in portraying their respective person but they were fun to watch.
You’ll love this movie if you’re a longtime diehard fan of SNL. You will get the in-jokes, understand who everyone is supposed to be and know the famous sketches. Of the skits shown in the film, I didn’t find any of them funny and I couldn’t understand why anybody was laughing. In fact, I only found the film itself marginally funny.
I respect the frenetic energy and rowdy atmosphere that Reitman created but there’s too much going on to really become invested in anything.
In cinemas from Friday 31st January
Rating: 3.5 out of 5.
