TL;DR – A movie that embraces the chaos of its subject matter with such reverence it ends up hurting the final product.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid to watch this film

Saturday Night Review –

Today, we are looking at a bit of an odd duck of a film. One that swings wildly, stampeding through the chaos of its subject material with the gusto of a rhino in full tilt. However, that approach is going to be a boon or a detriment for you, depending on how you are approaching this film. For me, I am not someone who religiously tunes into Saturday Night Live. Sure, occasionally, a sketch from the show will bubble into the subconscious like Natalie Portman, Undercover Boss, or the recent Mother. Also, the most impacting sketch for me and my comedy journey came almost wholly disconnected from the show. So, you always know it is there, and its legacy in the movies that have and have not worked and the comics it has brought to the forefront. It is within that framework we look at the film today.

So, to set the scene, it is October 11, 1975, and Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LaBelle) is out in front of 30 Rockefeller Plaza trying to get an audience to see his show with an NBC Page (Finn Wolfhard). That is because it is 90 minutes before his first show goes to air, and nothing is going right. The studio is having less and less faith in his vision, the cast is in chaos, the crew is in a state of revolution, oh, is that a fire, and why is there a llama? There are only 90 minutes to pull this all together, but that is going to be hard when there is not even a runtime yet.

While I think I am going to be a bit cool on this film, there were moments that did make it stand out. While most of the cast were unknown actors for me, you did feel that they embodied those classic comics like Chevy Chase, John Belushi, and Billy Crystal. They become little anchor points for the film as we bound around all the different facets of the show. We also get a decent look at the creative process of what it takes to put a show like this together, the lighting, sound, costume changes, and how they pick the run order. While it is all heightened here, it was good to see all those production elements come together and cardboard and duct tape it could get. Gabriel LaBelle was a good casting choice as Lorne Michaels. You can feel that genius and also the sheer will of force that has been behind most of the variety television at NBC since the 1970s. Also, Rachel Sennott as Rosie Shuster works well as a grounding element for what is going on.

However, while the frantic chaos of the first half of the film was an absolute delight, as we progressed and the chaos marched on at an almost unrelenting pace, it became draining. While this has a pip under two hours run time, it feels like a lot longer film as the back half really starts to drag. There are so many faces, characters, and story beats to follow that it becomes a jungle of ideas. There is this running gag that Lorne is struggling to cut things from the runtime, and you feel like that could have been an issue for the film as well. It keeps diving into deep cuts, which I am sure will be fun for some of the people watching. However, all of that means is that we never have time to actually interrogate some of the questions the movie raises, like powerful men being creeps. All of it comes off feeling more like a missed opportunity than anything else. Also, poor marks for being mean to Jim Henson (Nicholas Braun).

In the end, do we recommend Saturday Night? Look, the film probably was not for me, and it didn’t strike a desire to explore the world of Saturday Night Live further. However, if you are a fan of this show, then this is probably the deep dive that will entice you. If you liked Saturday Night, we would recommend to you Dolemite Is My Name.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Have you watched Saturday Night?, let us know what you thought in the comments below, feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day. 

Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Saturday Night
Directed by – Jason Reitman
Screenplay by – Gil Kenan & Jason Reitman
Music by – Jon Batiste
Cinematography by – Eric Steelberg
Edited by – Nathan Orloff & Shane Reid
Production/Distribution Companies – Columbia Pictures, Reitman/Kenan Productions & Sony Pictures
Starring – Gabriel LaBelle, Rachel Sennott, Cory Michael Smith, Ella Hunt, Dylan O’Brien, Emily Fairn, Matt Wood, Lamorne Morris, Kim Matula, Finn Wolfhard, Nicholas Braun, Cooper Hoffman, Andrew Barth Feldman, Kaia Gerber, Tommy Dewey, Willem Dafoe, Matthew Rhys, J. K. Simmons, Jon Batiste, Leander Suleiman, Naomi McPherson, Taylor Gray, Nicholas Podany, Josh Brener, Robert Wuhl, Tracy Letts, Corinne Britti, Mcabe Gregg, Brian Welch, Paul Rust, Catherine Curtin, Jef Holbrook, Kirsty Woodward, Abraham Hsu, Rowan Joseph, Ellen Boscov, Billy Bryk, Brad Garrett & David Michael Brown
Rating – Australia: MA15+; Canada: 14A; Germany: na; New Zealand: M; United Kingdom: 15; United States: R