Saturday Night: One Man's Revolution

LIVE FROM NEW YORK

Saturday Night. 90 minutes. Lights gone. Sound down. Actors astray. Writers censored. Comedians incensed. Over-budget. Over-scheduled. Fights. Fires. Blood. Grass. Nerves. Carson on tape delay. What could go wrong? Everything. Jason Reitman’s latest film chronicles the notoriously hectic ninety minutes before Saturday Night Live premiered on NBC in 1975 as Lorne Michaels, the show’s creator, pulls every stop to fulfill his dream. Pining to create television made by those grown up on television, Michaels bets on himself and his vision to scrap together New York’s finest comedic rejects to create a sketch-comedy show that runs to this very day. Is Lorne Michaels a visionary who sparked a revolution? Or is Saturday Night a one-off Aaron Sorkin ripoff?

Saturday Night begins on the titular day in question October 11th, 1975 around ninety minutes before the airing of SNL’s first show. The film follows Lorne Michaels the creator of the show played by Gabriel LaBelle from The Fabelmans as he navigates continuous setbacks and a dysfunctional cast and crew. Michaels’ boss Dick Ebersol played by Cooper Hoffman of Licorice Pizza fame informs him that NBC programming executive David Tebet (Willem Dafoe) has brought in a string of advertising executives from across the country to witness the taping. Despite feigning words of encouragement to Michaels, Tebet has no faith in the show with plans to play reruns of Johnny Carson if he doesn’t like what he sees. With Ebersol proclaiming that NBC only greenlit the show to fail while the studio negotiates a new contract with Johnny Carson. With executives breathing down his neck, Michals deals with an erratic John Belushi unwilling to sign his contract, the censor who’s determined to wear out her red ink, changing hosts, excessive sketch ideas, and the list goes on and on. Those were the few prominent ones that popped into my head. Following the lead-up to SNL’s debut in near real-time, every minute a new problem arises that Michaels has to tackle. More important than the constant hiccups is Michaels’ conflict with the studio’s traditional methods and his radical approach to reinventing television, a show he holds onto as his baby, unflinching in his vision despite insurmountable odds. 

Whoever cast this film (John Papsidera) deserves the casting Oscar. From top to bottom, everybody is truly fantastic. This is as much of an ensemble as the definition could fit. There are plenty of famous namedrops and cameos glittered throughout. Yet, none of these appearances or minor characters come off as imitations. Each actor truly lives in the part beyond a mock imitation you would find on current SNL runs. Everybody from Ella Hunt as Gilda Radner to Nicolas Padany as Billy Crystal. They manage to capture the essence of the characters they play, making the scenes of Lorne Michaels frantically running from room to room all the more lived in. Special shout out to both Cory Michael Smith and Dylan O’Brien who play Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd to perfection, nailing their manner of speech. Yet, it’s Gabrielle Lebelle who carries the film on his shoulders. What an electric young talent. I thought back in 2022 that he deserved an Oscar nomination for playing Steven Spielberg in The Fabelmans but he sure does now. As opposed to the many SNL actors, we don’t know what Lorne Michaels is like, so we can’t say for sure whether LaBelle nailed Michaels’ mannerisms. But, we do know he plays him with earnestness and honesty that you can’t not root for him even if his demands are too large or his regard for others wanes. His energy comes alive on the screen the way James Stewart would light up the screen in his many Capra films. It’s a strange and ambitious comparison but stay with me. LaBelle is a reminder that acting is in good hands. Further proof is in the scene between him and Cooper Hoffman at a staircase that already made the rounds before the film’s release. Oh, and Willem Dafoe is in this one. He’s in a movie a month at this rate. There’s not much more to say other than Dafoe is great again. 

I didn’t know Reitman had it like that. I’ll be honest in admitting that I’ve never seen a Jason Reitman film known for slightly off-beat, yet commercial comedies such as Juno and Up in the Air. He’s recently come off the Ghostbusters reboot from 2021, Afterlife or something, resurrecting his father’s film franchise. Otherwise, he’s largely been M.I.A from what I know. But, man, he shows some serious talent in this one. The premise and execution heavily borrow from a film like Birdman, another chaotic behind-the-scenes story with plenty of oners and zippy dialogue. Still, that’s not to be dismissed since the constant action the moving camera captures takes genuine talent to pull off. Additionally, the film both thematically and stylistically (the film cuts) is in another stratosphere than Birdman. But just because similar styles have been seen before doesn’t negate what Reitman does here. He understands that story informs style. Thus, his camera has the rhythm of controlled chaos with just enough of a documentary flair to capture the real honest emotions spilled amongst the cast and crew. The editing and camera have a rhythm that matches the experimental tone of SNL’s first season itself. John Baptiste’s score drums you along from scene to scene managing to evoke tension with jazz, keeping you on the edge of your seat. Surely, one of the most eclectic compositions of the year. Set in the 70s, Reitman and company seemingly pull off the same tricks done in last year’s brilliant The Holdovers where they transform digital footage to look like it was shot in 1975 giving the film a beautiful texture. Along with directing, Reitman also co-wrote the script with collaborator Gil Kenan with the two delivering a fun script at a whip-snap pace. Reitman can capture the comedic timing well in what feels like an homage to the workplace Aaron Sorkin scripts. Every character knows exactly what smart thing to say when. While it borrows from the Sorkin talk we all know and love, it perfectly fits the tone of the story. A staple of the Sorkin script is the ever-looming presence of conflict and boy does Reitman handle it well. Every minute a little conflict erupts and multiple character dynamics/conflicts are revealed. The pacing is never off and the script doesn’t dwell on anything for too long. Since the performances are so convincing the screenplay doesn’t need to set up time to like these characters as you go along with it instantly. The film’s nearly two-hour runtime whizzes by as a result.

While, the film has been marketed as a smart, entertaining behind-the-scenes film, I think there’s more to it. Saturday Night presents this moment as the breaking point in television history. Whether that’s true or not is debatable. Broadly, however, it signifies a transition where it’s out with the old and in with the new. Johnny Carson and Milton Berle loom large as television staples representing what Lorne Michaels desires to rebel against. Again, was SNL the rebellion the film claims to be? I doubt it, but the film makes us believe it. I mentioned James Stewart and Frank Capra earlier. Obviously, Saturday Night isn’t in league with those masterpieces, frankly, none are. But, it has a similar crowd-pleasing spirit as those films. When you get to the film’s skeleton, it’s about the lengths a man will go to fulfill a dream against all the odds. Against people telling him he can’t do this or won’t do it. No matter how many people tell you no. Laugh at you. Sneer at you. You get it done despite it because you care about something. Because there’s something you genuinely believe matters. There’s a great scene with Jim Henson and Lorne Michaels in an elevator where he’s frustrated at the writers’ lack of interest and mockery of the Muppets but that, for him, they are more important than anything. That captures the spirit of this film better than anything. Personally, I have no reason to write these reviews. I make no money from them and I barely get any views. Why do I do it? Because I care about film. And I love it. I care about something greater than myself and want to pursue excellence in it. This film is an antidote against those who sneer, are stuck doing things because that’s the way it’s done, or only care about material gain. Most people don’t have a percentage of what Lorne Michaels has in this film: the will of a visionary. Whether he’s a visionary is up to you. But, it’s refreshing to see a film choose to be optimistic in the face of the scouring cynicism that so often plagues our culture. 

Yet, all I’ve heard this past weekend is who is this film made for?  Where is the audience for this? I don’t think it’s the sole responsibility of the filmmaker to make films specifically with a target audience in mind, I think it’s disingenuous. People should make movies out of love. It’s clear Reitman has a love of this era and with Lorne Michaels’ character where he no doubt sees parallels from his profession. Maybe it’s Oscar bait? I don’t know and I don’t care. All I can say is I’m glad it exists. It’s certainly not a perfect film but an earnest one that appeals to anyone even if you don’t care for SNL. Maybe on a second watch, the smark-alick dialogue will come off cringe or the jokes won’t land as well. I can’t say but I did get caught in it the first time around. It didn’t matter that I knew in the end the show would air, I was along for the ride. My only real gripe with the production is the lack of time Reitman dedicates to Lorne Michael’s motivation. We feel the spirit, pain, and passion in his effort to bring SNL to life but we never figure out the why. Why does SNL matter to him specifically? This could have given the film the resoundingly cathartic moment it needs amidst the chaos. There’s an attempt to build some history through his ex-wife played by Rachel Sennot but the thread isn’t pulled long enough. This small moment would have given everybody enough emotional insight that feels like a missed opportunity. As a creative person myself, I was able to skip past this since I could implicitly understand his struggle but many may not. In the end, Reitman has delivered a funny, smart crowd-pleaser that involves you in the journey of a man against the world that’s nothing but infectious. [3.75/4]