Since 1975, Saturday Night Live (SNL) has entertained millions of Americans and launched the careers of various prolific comedians such as Will Ferrell, Andy Samberg, Mike Myers and Kristen Wiig to name a few. When the show debuted, it established a new type of TV – something unpredictable and spontaneous – a sense of chaos that Ghostbusters: Afterlife director Jason Reitman aims to encapsulate in his latest feature, Saturday Night.
On a cold night in New York, there is an air of anxiety emanating from Rockefeller Centre. A guy on the street is trying to entice people to come and watch a live show, which feels like a gamble – the bosses aren’t confident about a live comedy show on primetime TV and its cast of comedians is running riot amid a haze of booze and drugs. But the biggest problem is no one knows what the show exactly is – except for producer Lorne Michaels (The Fabelmans‘ Gabriel LaBelle). As the night goes on, a growing mountain of issues becomes plates for Michaels to spin, which increases the unlikelihood of the show being a success. In short, Saturday Night is madness personified.
After directing a variety of moderate successes such as Tully, Juno and Up in the Air, having Jason Reitman at the helm of a film celebrating SNL allows a glimpse of his childhood come to life due to the work of his late father, director Ivan Reitman, with SNL alums such as Bill Murray, James Belushi, and Dan Ackroyd. With his memories as his biggest tool, Jason Reitman delivers a distinct perspective to offer modern audiences a chance to see the chaos of the show that would officially become SNL. Meanwhile, his screenplay with longtime screenwriting collaborator Gil Kenan captures the frenetic energy of a chase against the clock but amid contract negotiations and comedians going walkabout, there are so many characters and plot lines to follow that contribute to a growing web of chaos.
The film also doesn’t hide the fact that the 1970s were a bad time for diversity and equality. The comedians – some of whom such as Chevy Chase (Cory Michael Smith) and George Carlin (Matthew Rhys) are egotistical pigs – are worried about pinning their big break on this show while timely themes of racism and misogyny are evident among the characters. There is a smattering of cliché moments to right the ship, even if they feel like an afterthought. These include the POC band and sketches involving Garrett Morris (Lamorne Morris – no relation) – the cast’s only notable minority character – and female comediennes such as Gilda Radner (Ella Hunt) and Jane Curtin (Kim Matula) to demonstrate that they have the goods to be there, rather than just tick the inclusion boxes among the cast.
In fact, Saturday Night‘s cast pulls out the stops to make the film a fun-filled adventure on the set of Studio 8H. In particular, LaBelle’s mature and unflustered performance as Lorne Michaels offers a semblance of stability – he doesn’t cave into the chaos. Instead, his quiet confidence recognises the strengths of those around him and pushes the talent around him to deliver – becoming the leader that he is supposed to be. However, the same consistency isn’t seen among the film’s eclectic casting, which includes well-known actors such as JK Simmons and Willen Defoe to emerging talent such as Nicholas Braun (playing both Jim Henson and Andy Kaufman) and Cooper Hoffman as Dick Ebersol, all of whom step into the shoes of comedy legends. Various performances make more of an impact than others – Matt Woods is underused as Belushi – while members such as Dylan O’Brien and Tommy Dewey nail their respective performances as Dan Ackroyd and Tommy O’Donoghue. This unfortunately creates confusion among the cast and crew, who seem to be quick to quit rather than reiterate their importance to the production in a diva-style fit.
But despite its unevenness, Saturday Night offers a surprising and comical thriller. When the jokes hit, they hit with a wallop and the feature is also visually compelling – the fast camerawork and edits, as well as some comprising impeccable tracking shots, wonderfully capture the fast pace of the production. Combined with Jess Gonchor’s immaculate production design, the vision brings to life a nostalgic period in American television while you can’t avoid getting caught up in the rush to tie everything up before the clock hits 11:30pm.
Overall, a lot is going on in Saturday Night. It runs rings the audience due to its confusing narrative but the cast and visuals keep the film on track and viewers on their toes.
Saturday Night is out in UK cinemas on 31 January 2025.
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Director: Jason Reitman, Gil Kenan (co-screenwriter)
Stars: 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, Nicholas Podany, Kaia Gerber, Robert Wuhl, Tommy Dewey, Catherine Curtin, Jon Batiste, Willem Dafoe, Paul Rust, Tracy Letts, Matthew Rhys, J. K. Simmons, Brad Garrett, Josh Brener
Runtime: 109 minutes
Country: USA
