Screenplay Written by Gil Kenan & Jason Reitman
Directed by Jason Reitman
***1/2 (three and a half stars)
RATED R
I am 55 years old. For now 49 of those years, "Saturday Night Live" has existed in the world as well as my life.
Yes, there were years and periods where my interest ebbed and flowed. There are still weekends where I find myself changing the channel after "Weekend Update," as the show in full that evening just is not grabbing me comedically. To that end, the calls for the program's demise arrive in as much of a clockwork fashion as each new season. And still, time and again, I find myself ready to see the cold open and hear those now iconic words, "Live from New York!!It's SATURDAY NIGHT!!!"
And to this day, after tat rallying cry and those ever vibrant opening credits, it still sends me an excited thrill that just takes me back to the beginning.
Jason Reitman's "Saturday Night" takes us back to October 11, 1975, and a mere 90 minutes before the very first episode is set to enter the world and the public consciousness overall. It should first be stated that this film is not a documentary and so historical liberties have indeed been taken in order to create a dramatic effect. This is a tactic for which I have been highly critical in other films, most notably Bryan Singer/Dexter Fletcher's "Bohemian Rhapsody" (2018), for why invent drama when so much inherent drama exists? And yet, I did not ever find myself distracted and unconnected to Reitman's vision as "Saturday Night" provided a raucous window into how that night quite possibly felt as its future, both immediate and now, forever within the pop cultural zeitgeist, was so powerfully unknown.
As previously stated, Jason Reitman's "Saturday Night" centers itself upon the night of October 11, 1975 and the hyperactive 90 minutes before air time of a live comedy program produced, written by and starring young, unknown talent and one that essentially never possessed a clear focus or identity, making it highly improbable for the premiere to happen at all.
Gabriel LaBelle stars as "Saturday Night Live" creator/producer Lorne Michaels, who we view alongside his boss, producer Dick Ebersol (Cooper Hoffman), as they feverishly attempt to wrangle together a live 90 minute debut of an untested, undefined comedy program running twice its allotted length in dress rehearsal, a fully dysfunctional crew, set mishaps and accidents, brutally acerbic head writer Michael O'Donoghue (Tommy Dewey) and his team's war against an NBC network censor, plus the ferocious disdain of network executive David Tebet (Willem Dafoe), episode1 host George Carlin (Matthew Rhys) combined with outright wrath from the comedy old guard of Johnny Carson and a visiting Milton Berle (J.K. Simmons).
And in addition to juggling the talents and presence of a hungry Billy Crystal (Nicholas Podany), musical guests Billy Preston (Jon Batiste) and Janis Ian (Naomi McPherson), Andy Kaufman and Jim Henson (both portrayed by Nicholas Braun), there are the ragtag stars of the show, the unformed yet soon to be iconic "Not Ready For Prime Time Players," featuring Dan Aykroyd (Dylan O'Brien), rapaciously surly John Belushi (Matt Wood), Jane Curtin (Kim Matula), soon to be breakout star Chevy Chase (Cory Michael Smith), fish out of water Garrett Morris (Lamorne Morris), Laraine Newman (Emily Fairn) and Gilda Radner (Ella Hunt).
Bursting with chaotic energy and abandon, Jason Reitman's "Saturday Night" is a n enormously affectionate tribute to the white knuckle minutes that must exist before every single episode of what is now a television institution.
It is an institution that is now wholly familiar. We understand its framework. We understand its structure. We know exactly what parts of the show will happen and when. We know "Weekend Update" will always be right in the middle of the show. We know exactly when each week's musical guest will perform. We know there will be satirical filmed advertisements and that a host's monologue will exist immediately following the flashy roll call opening credits. Yet, even in its now familiarity, it remains a high wire act as it is all happening live and anything could potentially happen.
Over the years, even when I felt the time for "Saturday Night Live" may have reached certain limits or was being undone by its limitations, I have since found myself allowing for some grace towards the show as I am unable to imagine the pressure involved to create a functioning live television program every single week out of the thin air.
That being said, Jason Reitman's "Saturday Night" takes us back the night of that very first episode when nearly every participant was a cultural unknown, and what was being made was indeed revolutionary, for there was no framework or structure because there was no precedent for what Lorne Michaels and his cast and crew were inventing in real time. Fueled by its own sense of madhouse (and for some, drug aided) cacophony, this show delivered a sense of television and comedic anarchy for no one knew if this then new experiment would even work at all, especially when the very young participants probably did not even know what they had or were even creating initially.
From all of the oral histories and interviews I have read over the years from the original cast members to present day, all of them have showcased the reality that getting a show to air is akin to conjuring a minor miracle. With that in mind, Reitman has crafted essentially his version of Alejandro G. Inarritu's extraordinary "Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance)" (2014)--all the way down to its percussive score by Jon Batiste--and Jim Henson's "The Muppet Show" (1976-1981).
Truth be told, and frankly, with respect to the original "Saturday Night Live" writers who carried nothing but ruthless disdain for Henson's doomed late night Muppet characters, Reitman's backstage drama often feels like a live action version of "The Muppet Show" where his Lorne Michaels is the real world Kermit The Frog, the straight man valiantly trying to hold his certifiably insane cast and crew together to try and piece together a great variety show.
One thing that I found to be remarkable with "Saturday Night" is the impeccable casting from end to end. It was amazing to me that I knew precisely whom was being portrayed even in flash moments like Al Franken (Taylor Gray), Tom Davis (Mcabe Gregg), Paul Shaffer (Paul Rust) and original announcer Don Pardo (Brian Welch).
The portrayals of Chevy Case and Dan Aykroyd by Cory Michael Smith and Dylan O'Brien, respectively were marvelous. I loved how the portrayal of Chevy Chase certainly remained true to legend of him being an extremely unpleasant person to exist with while also carrying superior talent. But, the additional layer of how his often nasty humor was utilized as a shield for his insecurity and uneasiness with potential fame provided perspective and depth. O'Brien's version of Aykroyd was almost eerie as he handled everything down to the legendary vocal cadences with aplomb.
Lamorne Morris is a standout as Garrett Morris, a full decade older than his classmates, a Julliard trained performed, Broadway musical veteran and playwright, as well as being the only African American member of the cast and writers, clearly out of step with these young, White upstarts.
Yes, as characters, Jane Curtin, Laraine Newman and Gilda Radner are given short shrift within this film. To that end, even Belushi's presence wavers between being a major plot point (will he sign his contract?) to even being kind of an afterthought as he is off screen for much of the running time, appearing via a minor series of scenes. But again, Reitman is giving us a peek into a mere 90 minute snapshot of time, meaning there is not enough opportunity to create full character arcs if he had chosen to focus on the first full season of "Saturday Night Live" instead.
Even so, I spotted the character of Laraine Newman instantly because the presence of this very real comedic hero was so present. Just the sound of the character of John Belushi's voice brought this comedic hero back to me. A turn of the head superbly conjured Gilda Radner and so on.
And then, there is the topic of a certain sense of revisionist history being performed within Reitman's film as several now iconic sketches, which did not yet exist on that first night. Again, I generally dislike this technique bot somehow, they way Reitman weaved everything together, "Saturday Night" may not be entirely historically accurate but it felt to be emotionally true and not manipulative to generate an effect. The laughs and tension I felt throughout were honest as I could witness how this entire leap of faith, one where the then established powers that be we hoping to fail, quite might have been this discordant and electrifying.
As electrifying as "Saturday Night Live" was, and still is, when it operates at its very best.
I was six years old when "Saturday Night Live" originally premiered. I was perhaps between seven and eight when it truly entered my consciousness and I became an avid watcher and absolutely magnetically glued to this band of personalities, their characters and catchphrases, their sense of rule breaking and voluminous energy. I loved every minute even as possibly 90% of the humor sailed completely over my head. It was the aforementioned gentle anarchy of invention and destruction, just to do it all over again and again, never knowing what could possibly happen or if it will work at all. Those first 5 years of the show are as embedded into my DNA as The Beatles for those actors, comedians and writers were as rock n' roll as the rock n' roll I already loved.
Jason Reitman's "Saturday Night" is no mere exercise in empty nostalgia. It is a lovingly presented tribute to what Mel Brooks once spoke of as the "polite hostility" of comedy merged with the artistic hunger of invention and having a chance to change the landscape by putting on a show.
