Saturday Night review

SATURDAY NIGHT: 

LIVE FROM NEW YORK, THIS IS ONE HELL OF A PRODUCTION! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** ½ out of 4

COLUMBIA PICTURES

Gabriel LaBelle as Lorne Michaels and his cast and crew in Saturday Night

 

            The hellish production of the very first broadcast of Saturday Night Live comes to the screen in Saturday Night, the new film from Jason Reitman (Juno, Young Adult, Ghostbusters: Afterlife). The film is a comedy-drama biopic focused on the 90 minutes before the airing of the first episode of SNL (Then called Saturday Night) and all the chaos that went down during those 90 minutes. 

            I actually watched the first SNL episode for the first time courtesy of the Season 1 DVD set the night before seeing the movie to better educate myself on the references and recreations of sketches that’ll likely be featured in the film. I’m glad I did though like The Disaster Artist, it’s probably not necessary to enjoy the movie, but it enhances the movie viewing experience. 

            I did not however know about the making of the first SNL episode which made this movie seem very fascinating to me when I first heard about it. Coming out of it…yeah, this was a blast! 

            I don’t think Saturday Night is a perfect movie, but I was entertained throughout and on edge of my seat seeing Gabriel LaBelle (The Predator, American Gigolo, The Fabelmans) as SNL producer, Lorne Michaels try to get this show on the air while under pressure because of corporate executives, going over-budget, and things going horribly wrong. The fact they just made it to air is insane, but it would go on to become one of the most popular and game-changing television shows of all time. 

            The film is set on October 11, 1975, and follows Lorne Michaels as he races like a chicken with his head cut off to make Saturday Night Live to air in only 90 minutes. All the while clashing with NBC executives including David Tebet (Willem Dafoe-Spider-Man, The Lighthouse, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice), cast and crew members, and a chaotic production that changed television forever. 

            The film also stars Rachel Sennott (Call Your Mother, Bodies Bodies Bodies, Bottoms) as Rosie Shuster, Cory Michael Smith (Gotham, Carol, May December) as Chevy Chase, Ella Hunt (Cold Feet, Dickinson, Horizon: An American Saga) as Gilda Radner, Dylan O’Brien (Maze Runner trilogy, Deepwater Horizon, Love and Monsters) as Dan Aykroyd, Emily Fairn (The Responder, Chuck Chuck Baby, House of Guinness) as Laraine Newman, Matt Wood as John Belushi, Lamorne Morris (Barbershop: The Next Cut, Game Night, Death of a Telemarketer) as Garrett Morris (No relation), Kim Matula (The Bold and the Beautiful, UnReal, Fighting with My Family) as Jane Curtin, Nicholas Braun (Sky High, Red State, The Perks of Being a Wallflower) as both Andy Kaufman and Jim Henson, Cooper Hoffman (Licorice Pizza, Wildcat, Old Guy) as Dick Ebersol, Tommy Dewey (17 Again, Casual, Book Club) as Michael O’Donoghue, Matthew Rhys (The Americans, A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Cocaine Bear) as George Carlin, J.K. Simmons (Spider-Man trilogy, Whiplash, Red One) as Milton Berle, Jon Batiste as Billy Preston, Naomi McPherson as Janis Ian, Nicholas Podany as Billy Crystal, Taylor Gray (Walt Before Mickey, Star Wars: Rebels) as Al Franken, Robert Wuhl (Bull Durham, Batman, Arliss) as Dave Wilson, Tracy Letts (U.S. Marshals, The Big Short, Ford v. Ferrari) as Herb Sargent, Josh Brener (The Internship, The Front Runner, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) as Alan Zweibel, and Paul Rust (iSteve, Pee-Wee’s Big Holiday, Love) as Paul Schaffer. 

            Overall, Saturday Night is the biopic equivalent of watching a rushed production of a TV show as if it was filmed like an action movie. Seriously, this might be more an adrenaline rush than the majority of action films I’ve seen. 

            Lots of long shots of Lorne walking and talking fast through crowded sets, studio rooms, and offices filled with people rushing to make the deadline, lights falling from the ceiling and causing a fire, feuds and brawls between cast members, and the higher ups having very little faith in this show. It’s a rollercoaster to say the least that ends on a satisfying note. 

            If you’ve been a fan of SNL since the beginning or watched many of the episodes then you are to appreciate all the references, easter eggs, and reenactments of famous sketches from the show. They even make references to the iconic Dan Aykroyd Julia Child sketch which would eventually be featured in 2009’s Julia & Julia (Also, a Sony Pictures/Columbia movie). 

            I don’t know much about the crew behind the scenes of SNL, but I thought the performances were excellent all around with Gabriel LaBelle playing an exceptional Lorne Michaels who I found very endearing throughout. After the movie, I looked at some old interviews of Michaels and I have to say LaBelle really captures his voice and mannerisms in the film…I also now understand where Dr. Evil’s voice from Austin Powers came from. 

            Cory Michael Smith is incredible as Chevy Chase (Probably the biggest standout in the movie), like it is eerie how much he looks and sounds like him here. Smith nails the egotistical yet hilarious nature of…well, the real Chevy Chase and now we know who to case if National Lampoon’s Vacation ever gets rebooted and not like that middling Ed Helms movie from 2015. 

            Dylan O’Brien as Dan Aykroyd was a huge surprise to me because not once in the movie did I ever think he was the same kid from The Maze Runner and while he doesn’t exactly look like Aykroyd he has the vocal inflexions, voice, and mannerisms down to the point of being nearly unrecognizable. It might even be the best I’ve seen from him and I hope he and Smith get some awards attention for their roles here. 

            I also found it interesting that the majority of the movie happens in real time, the film is an hour and 49 minutes long and exactly at the 90 minute mark is the air time for the show. I am sure a lot of details that actually happened behind the scenes were probably glossed over in the movie, but since I don’t really know much about what truly went on in 1975 that night, I had little issue with that and it got me curious to read about the actual production of SNL. 

            It’s also pretty neat that the movie was shot on 16mm film to give it that grainy, low-budget 1970s feel to it. It really is a testament to bringing the time period to life not just in the production design but also shooting on equipment from that era as well to make it as authentic-looking as possible and if the movie is playing somewhere on 35mm or something like that it’s worth checking out. 

            Saturday Night is a chaotic, tension-filled, adrenaline rush look at the production of one of the most game-changing television shows of all time. SNL fans will surely appreciate all the references to the sketches and those looking for a fascinating and entertaining biopic should be very satisfied as well, see it preferably before Sunday.