Saturday Night (2024)

LIVE FROM NEW YORK....

For any one born after 1975 (or before), "Saturday Night Live" has been an American entertainment institution...an irreverent weekly platform for up-to-the-minute comedy featuring promising performers, many of whom would go on to be massive stars in various media.  But it wasn't always that way....and director Jason Reitman (Juno, Up In the Air) has decided to take to that night in October 1975 when it all started.  Specifically, this (loosely) presents us with all of the craziness which preceded the first live taping of the show....taking us through the chaotic 90 minutes leading up to when it was first broadcast.  We get to spend time with various notable players involved including Lorne Michaels (Gabriel Labelle), Rosie Shuster (Rachel Sennott), Dan Ackroyd (Dylan O'Brien), Chevy Chase (Cory Michael Smith), Garett Morris (Lamorne Morris), Gilda Radner (Ella Hunt), Dick Ebersol (Cooper Hoffman), and John Belushi (Matt Wood), along with so many others.  It's all very frantic and chaotic....and funny? Let's find out if this group of players are ready for prime time.....

Host & Editor: Geoff Gershon
Producer: Marlene Gershon

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Transcript

SATURDAY NIGHT - 2024

Directed by Jason Reitman

Starring Gabriel LaBelle, Rachel Sennott, Cooper Hoffman, Dylan O’Brien, Cory Michael Smith, Lamorne Morris, Willem Dafoe, Ella Hunt, Emily Fairn, Matt Wood, Kim Matula, Tommy Dewey, Andrew Barth Feldman, Nicholas Braun, Kaia Gerber, Catherine Curtin, Nicholas Podany, Corinne Britti, Finn Wolfhard, Matthew Rhys, Jon Batiste, Tracy Letts, and J.K. Simmons 

Genre: Backstage Comedy (Audio clip)

As a long-time fan of SNL (including the original '70's cast), knowing that Jason Reitman was directing, AND after having seen the trailer which alludes to any number of famous non-SNL cast members (Milton Berle, George Carlin, Andy Kaufman) appearing prominently....I had zero illusions that I was walking into a no-holds-barred docudrama about the '75 origins of Saturday Night Live. :) This whole exercise of a real-time (just over 90 minutes) lead-up to the filming of that first episode of "Saturday Night" in October '75 just felt more to me like a backstage farce capitalizing on nostalgia. And guess what? It is....and it's pretty damn entertaining as a result! 

I'm always a sucker for a loose, over-the-top backstage yarn in the vein of All That Jazz or more satirically like Bowfinger. 😆 It's a kick to see an assortment talented folks (usually lead by some visionary underdog creator) awkwardly barreling towards a deadline OR exhausting all efforts to "fake it until they make it" to win the approval of some higher power who holds their careers in their hands. This version - which is told mostly from the POV of show creator Lorne Michaels (Gabriel Labelle) and his then-wife show-writer Rosie Schuster (Rachel Sennott) - has a lot of both of those. Labelle and Sennot provide a nice emotional core, both delivering natural performances with some good chemistry between them.  IF I were to come up with the closest analog to this film, it would be a much more madcap, ensemble answer to Danny Boyle's Steve Jobs from about ten years ago....well Steve Jobs with a dollop of Birdman, also from about ten years ago as it turns out. :) 

Now while this film isn't written nor directed as artfully as those two, it's got a lot of the same Sorkian "people arguing while walking fast through hallways" energy....DP Eric Steelberg's camera is following various characters so closely for extended periods that would be forgiven for mistaking that he's going for a lot of one-shots. (Which he's not) Most of the action takes place throughout the 17th floor of 30 Rock - with a couple of detours outside in Manhattan or another floor - and it all feels so crowded and frantic, you can't help but get sucked into the fun. Make no mistake, this movie IS fun.....how could it NOT be with so many physical hijinks and loose banter? 

This cast is genuinely strong, even better at approximating the overall vibes of some pretty distinct big-time figures even when they don't look completely like them. Kim Matela does an strong job portraying the effeteness of Jane Curtin, Lamorne Morris delivers a heartfelt turn playing the drollness of Garrett Morris (no relation), Nicholas Braun is having a lot of fun delivering the loopiness we expect from Andy Kaufman, Dylan O'Brien surprisingly (because he honestly looks nothing like him) is spot-on with the staccato delivery and tireless energy of Dan Aykroyd, and....on paper this should have never worked....but JK Simmons is a blast to watch doing a VERY savage turn as Milton Berle. 😆 It seems kind of lazy that they REALLY went there with a gag about how well-endowed Berle was rumored to be but props to Simmons for really selling it! 

Of the extended on-screen cast, I was most impressed with Cory Michael Smith playing Chevy Chase...I only know Smith from playing The Riddler on "Gotham" and a memorable brief turn in last year's May December, he is definitely a talent to watch. ;) He honestly doesn't look THAT much like Chevy (except for his height) but he pretty much nails the actor's mannerisms and overall smarmy/charming presence. He definitely makes the most of his screentime with a few memorable exchanges and at the very least, we get a bit of a satisfying arc from both him and probably Lamorne's Garrett Morris. It's SUCH a sprawling cast that most roles and performances are given just a few minutes to shine....but shine they do as every one is playing it with just the right anarchic tone.

Along those lines, any viewer's degree of exposure or knowledge of these people IRL is likely to have an effect on just how much they can enjoy this movie...that's just kinda unavoidable considering just how BIG so many of the players involved were. It feels from a screenplay standpoint, Reitman (and co-writer Gil Kenan) MOSTLY play the hits when showing us how Belushi, Gilda, and crew were behind the scenes - they're not going for anything particularly revelatory about any of these folks which is understandable. IF anything shocking was to be revealed about a key figure involved with the show, there just wouldn't be much time to explore it....

Best Needledrop (best song cue or score used throughout runtime of film):

One standout song is played diegetically towards the end of the film by this first episode’s Special Musical Guest….the late, great Billy Preston.  For that first episode, he performed a live rendition of his 1974 hit, “Nothing From Nothing.”  Very catchy song and within the context of the movie, we actually hear it performed diegetically for the studio audience as they file in (Audio clip) 

Now to be perfectly fair, that song is performed within the movie AND Preston himself is actually played by Jon Batiste, who ALSO happens to be a virtuoso pop musician hailing from Metairie, Louisiana.  On-screen the Grammy-winning artist is quite a winning presence but behind the scenes, he also conducted this movie’s generally percussive score.  It’s a good score too….but for me, the absolute highlight is his band’s rendition (along with some original SNL band players) of THE Saturday Night Live theme song….which we hear over the closing credits, a closing credits VERY much in the style of the actual show’s opening credits…..basically random desaturated images of New York City punctuated with stills of the cast just…..doing their thing around New York.  Is it BLATANT fan service designed to send you out of the theater feeling all nostalgic for the days of actually watching this show LIVE on the TV?  (As opposed to broken up via clips on YouTube nowadays….sorry) WHY YES it is….and it undoubtedly WORKED for me!  I never realized just HOW much I was chomping at the bit to hear that nutso brass section just cut loose….on the big screen….until now. (Audio clip) 

Wasted Talent (most under-utilized talent involved with film):

Not every piece of casting worked for me.  For one, I wasn't completely sold on Matt Wood's John Belushi but to be fair, that HAD to be among the more challenging portrayals and at least he finishes the film on a strong note. Also the very talented Matthew Rhys portrays the late, great comedian George Carlin (who was the guest host of that very first episode) and if there was ANY portrayal which bugged me, it was this one....though more likely for personal reasons as I have always just worshipped Carlin. 😠 Can I buy that he was coked up a bit? Sure....but the screenplay literally presents him as one of the main villains, an insufferable blowhard who's out of his element on live TV?? 🙄 Seems a stretch as Carlin had already been a talk/variety show staple for about ten years by this point...but that's more MY hang-up and he's not a significant part of the story. (Audio clip) 

Trailer Moment (scene or moment that best describes this movie):

Honestly this is a tough call as pretty much every scene just kind of blends in with the next one….the movie rarely if ever slows down to even feel like we’re transitioning from one scene to the next.  There’s ONE point where it stops just for a few minutes which stuck out to me as likely THE wittiest conversation in the movie…..an quick impromptu back-and-forth between Garrett Morris and Jane Curtin….just sitting off to the side, smoking cigarettes, and reflecting on exactly WHY they have been hired for this and what’s expected from them.  In retrospect, it might not be THE best scene but a nice scene regardless with both actors giving natural performances.   

MVP (person or people most responsible for the success of this film):

Whatever issues I might have had with this film, I found it very entertaining, most of the dialogue crackled somewhat, AND….I really did enjoy how it was structured.  You see what reminded me so much about the Steve Jobs movie is this: like that film which focuses ENTIRELY on all of the lead-up and backstage drama LEADING up to three different Apple product presentations by the titular Jobs, this film also focuses on the lead-up….there’s a ticking clock, an urgency, and forward momentum to everything occurring on-screen.  (Audio clip) 

This film does that very well and THAT comes down to the screenplay – undoubtedly they fall into several showbiz tropes but it all pretty much feels organic and leading to something satisfying.  And looking back on Reitman’s filmography – specifically the ones written by him – I really quite like Up in the Air and Thank You for Smoking.  Bot films are competently directed like this movie….but what makes them shine the most is the writing….they’re each tight, funny, VERY sharp, observant films with rootable, flawed characters.  ALSO like this.  So bottom line, the CO-MVP’s are Jason Reitman and Gil Kenan. (Audio clip) 

Final Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

Like I said, this is generally a breezy backstage farce with some heart. I enjoyed most of the cast, I laughed somewhat, my mind was never blown, and I had a good time overall....it was like an average episode of SNL. :)

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And that ends another LIVE FROM NEW YORK review!