Saturday Night is a hilarious, but chaotic look at the beginnings of Saturday Night Live, filled with a star-studded cast and award-worthy performances.
About Saturday Night
Saturday Night Synopsis: On October 11th, 1975, a group of young comedians led by Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LaBelle) are about to go on live television. But, the group only has ninety minutes to get everything together. All before the higher-ups at NBC shuts them down. Thus, forcing everyone to put aside differences in order to bring to life, one of the most successful variety shows of all time.
Live From New York, It’s Saturday Night
When it comes to Saturday Night, director Jason Reitman and company takes us back to 1975. Throughout Reitman and company shows us the chaos and anxiety present on set. This is complete with Reitman and screenwriter Gil Kenan setting the film through the eyes of a young Lorne Michaels (LaBelle). Reitman and company also explore the divide between the generations. Mainly between the old and new guard of television. Thus, giving us a passing off the torch. Along with this, Reitman and cinematographer Eric Steelberg allows for the camera to linger onto the chaos on set. In the process, creating multiple one-shot takes where we follow the characters.
It also shows off a re-creation of Studio 8H and of the 1970s. This is courtesy of production designer Jess Goncher and costumer designer Danny Glicker. The two recreate the 1970s, complete with the style of hair, props, and vehicles present back then. Contributing to the madness is composer Jon Baptiste’s score. Baptiste utilizes a jazzy-like mixture of drums, guitars, trumpets, and piano. Which in turn, ratchets up the chaos. Additionally, editors Nathan Orloff and Shane Reid manages to keep the film on track with its multiple subplots and characters. All the while, coming in at an hour and forty-four minutes.
Performances in Saturday Night
With the performances, Gabriel LaBelle leads the cast exceptionally as Lorne Michaels. LaBelle manages to have consistent chemistry with everyone of the supporting cast. All the while, having a cool, calm demeanour. Which you can see hints of cracking. Speaking of the supporting cast, its filled with multiple standouts, who give great award-worthy performances.
Case in point, this includes the likes of Dylan O’Brien as Dan Aykroyd, Cory Michael Smith as Chevy Chase, Lamorne Morris as Garrett Morris, and Matt Wood as John Belushi. All four managed to instill the personalities and mannerisms of early Aykroyd, Chase, Morris, and Belushi extremely well. In addition, Rachel Sennott shines as Rosie Shuster. Sennott has nice chemistry with LaBelle with the two being a nice duo. Addedly, Kim Matala and Ella Hunt also deliver some solid work as Jane Curtain and Gilda Radner.
A Comedic Affair
Furthermore, Nicholas Braun manages to give two distinct performances. One as the legendary Jim Henson. And the other as comedian Andy Kaufman. Both of which Braun succeeds in portraying. Rounding out the cast is Tommy Dewey and Matthew Rhys as Michael O’Donoghue and George Carlin respectively. Both actors giving a very anarchist presence to their characters. Moreover, multiple comedians and character actors make several notable camoes and/or small appearances throughout. Mainly as notable writers or performances from the show’s past.
Finally, there’s Willem Dafoe and Cooper Hoffman, who’s characters Dick Ebersol and Dave Tebet represent the NBC side of things. Especially as Dafoe plays Tebet as the antagonist. For which, Dafoe excels at. Meanwhile, Hoffman plays up the best friend angle with Ebersol. Therefore, creating an interesting back-and-forth with LaBelle. But, this comes at the cost of their back-and-forth being put to the wayside around the third act.
Final Thoughts
Director Jason Reitman and company fully crafted a hilarious, yet chaotic look into the world of Saturday Night Live with Saturday Night. Complete with star-studded performances led by LaBelle, Reitman and company explore the chaos behind-the-scenes. They also explore the counter-culture. And what that divide will turn out to be. Overall, Saturday Night is interesting, wild, and humorous look into one of the greatest variety shows of all time.
