Film: Saturday Night

 

GENRE: Bio-Comedy/Drama
RATING: R for language, sexual references, drug use
RUNTIME: 1 hour and 49 minutes
PLATFORM: Movie Theatre
STARRING: Gabriel LaBelle (The Fabelmans, Snack Shack)
Rachel Sennott (newcomer); Cory Michael Smith (Gotham, May December)
DIRECTOR: Jason Reitman (Juno, Thank You For Smoking, Up in the Air)
WRITERS: Reitman & Gil Kenan (Ghostbuster: Afterlife & Frozen Empire)
PLOT: It’s an intense 90 minutes before first Saturday Night Live.   

FULL DISCLOSURE: Love SNL. Love behind the scenes. Like Reitman.

STORY STUFF: I am completely biased. (It’s in my full disclosure.) I love this stuff. I have read a lot about the beginnings of SNL. I have done loads of research. And while there are a lot of liberties taken, outright contradictions and ludicrous moments, I loved every minute of it. Reitman has said this is not a documentary. Sure, he is cramming a lot of stuff in a short, time-ticking countdown to the first taping. I forgive it because I know he is going for the chaos, emotions and tensions that go into a live show. As a theatre director, I a feel a smidge of Lorne Michaels’ feelings and this need for a live show to go on, no matter what. I will say the brick laying is a tad much but I get the metaphor. Reitman & Kenan load the script with Easter eggs of future sketches, mostly given to Dan Aykroyd. (The Colon Blow cereal is pretty premature though.) The pace of this film is electrifying and I would love to watch it again to catch more background shenanigans.

ACTING STUFF: It is hard to single out the acting performances. I am extremely impressed with the casting of this film. From big names to no names, I enjoyed everyone’s embodiment of the real people behind Saturday Night Live. Honestly, I would list practically the entire cast as standouts.         

ARTISTIC STUFF: The countdown updates are well utilized. The jazzy music underneath keeps the flow going. The filming style reminded me of Birdman without the pretentiousness of trying to do it all in one “long take”. The make-up, costumes and set design are incredible and make me feel like I’m there, back in 1975.

VERDICT: Five stars out of five
SEE IT IF: You love SNL and enjoy the chaos of opening night.   
UPCOMING REVIEW:  Conclave? Red One?