Saturday Night, the fictional reimaging by director Jason Reitman of the debut of Saturday Night Live, tried to capture the 90-minute countdown to the show. The movie is busily plotted, focusing on the producer of Saturday Night Live, Lorne Michaels, and his ability to create his revolutionary show in time. With reputations, money, and futures on the line, as well as the deadline looming, it feels nowhere close to ready.
Reitman takes famous characters from Saturday Night Live and their historical record to the screen. He builds on little moments and the rushing bodies taking over 30 Rockefeller Plaza, the headquarters for NBC, that night. He makes Lorne Michaels, played by Gabriel LaBelle, the hub of the movie with his vision of SNL and his ability to control all the chaos. It focuses on his ability to create what is known as his baby.Â
The camera shots in the movie were incredible, giving you the fast-paced feel of producing a vision. It felt as though you were physically there, getting an overview of everything going on. The intensity rose as you felt the time clock ticking. I enjoyed the way they showed the time to represent the time moving, which would overlap when they cut back to the scene. Putting the show all together from the perspective of the producer made it feel so real, and as an audience member, you could feel the pressure.Â
The movie is composed of many up-and-coming character comedy actors. Rachel Sennott as Michael’s estranged wife, Rosie Shuster, and Cooper Hoffman as Dick Ebersol, an NBC executive. However, with the extensive amount of characters combined with its fast-paced timing, there is not enough time to fully develop a connection with the characters. The only quality we know about the characters is they are playing famous starters in this media revolution. The hurried idea of the movie forms a lack of depth to characters and certain themes due to jumping to multiple small plot points.
There was a lack of comedy you would expect to see in an SNL movie. I got some good laughs in because of my love for SNL, but it felt like I was the only one laughing out loud in the theatre. There were very few bits that were able to steal the screen and feel like the good old SNL.
Nicholas Braun, known for playing Greg in Succession, stole the screen for me every time he came on. Seeing him play two diverse characters and be so fully enveloped in each was thrilling. He portrayed them both truthfully and drew attention every time he was on screen.Â
Kim Matula played Jane Curtain, who was known for playing the straight-female mother characters on the show. Matula did a great job capturing Curtain’s essence. Funny enough, my mom and I spent the whole movie trying to figure out where we knew the actress from. I finally realized she played my favorite character growing up: Hope Logan on “Bold and the Beautiful,” which is a daytime soap opera I watched every day during the summer with my grandma. Seeing Kim Matula provided a lot of nostalgic feelings.
My mom wouldn’t stop talking about her favorite character: Gilda Radner played by Ella Hunt. Radner was known for her bit “Roseanne Roseannadanna,” which my mom calls her time of SNL. Ella Hunt was able to showcase Gilda’s energy and love for the show, which made my mother happy.Â
Reitman also highlights the show’s lack of racial diversity by narrowing in on the only Black cast member, Garrett Morris, who was played by Lamorne Morris, and his spiral into questioning why he was even there. Morris effectively captures his distaste for the show by how he is being treated up to his growth in the end. Concluding with a moment of him singing a song from SNL with the lyrics, “I’m going to get me a shotgun and kill all the whities I see.”
Saturday Night is a movie made by fans and is truthfully made to be enjoyed by fans. It’s a nod to the iconic nature of the show, its humor, and its history. While there are many critics of the movie, I feel like it did just what Reitman wanted. It encaptured the chaos of the 90 minutes by showcasing Lorane Michaels and his role in the show. After watching this movie, it is undeniable without Michaels, we would never have SNL.