"Saturday Night" Review
Aiming for the unconventional, hitting the mainstream
Heading into the 50th season of “Saturday Night Live”, this movie posits itself as a celebration of the show’s history as a cutting-edge, avant-garde place for each generation’s creative minds. It retells the hectic hour and a half leading up to SNL’s first airing in 1975.
Most of the movie follows SNL creator and producer Lorne Michaels— portrayed by Gabriel LaBelle— as he deals with last-minute technical issues, disputes between actors, and the pushback of NBC executives. With tracking shots and Sorkin-esque dialogue delivery, these parts of the movie feel like a race to the finish line. We know the episode will air, but LaBelle’s desperate performance makes us feel his fear and passion.
Other than LaBelle, the cast is essentially an ensemble, with each cast member getting their moment. The cast is one of the best aspects of this movie, and it is nearly impossible to choose standouts. However, Rachel Sennot as Rosie Shuster, Cooper Hoffman as Dick Ebersol, Laverne Morris as Garrett Morris, and Tommy Dewey as Michael O’Donoghue come as close as possible. Fans of early SNL will enjoy watching each character get their spotlight, while casual moviegoers will still enjoy the chemistry and comfortable groove of the cast.
The fast pace and charming performances make Saturday Night a very entertaining watch, but I left wondering why this movie was made. I know the easy answer— capitalizing on SNL’s 50th season— but the film lacks a more substantial voice or justification. It spends most of the runtime telling the audience that this new show is something dangerous and new, but the movie does not show us that. In fact, it shows us the opposite through its very conventional style. The real-time aspect of the film is perhaps the only element that makes it more interesting than a Wikipedia page.
Perhaps that dissonance represents what SNL itself has become. It started as a safe space for the avant-garde and progressive, but it is now one of the biggest institutions of mainstream comedy. There’s nothing wrong with that, but it changes how its story can be told. Saturday Night has the complex task of connecting today’s SNL with its origins. I don’t know that its creators were up to this task.
Despite these flaws, I did enjoy Saturday Night. I left curious about the history of SNL and thinking about the fantastic performances for several days. Its faults did not hit me until after the initial hazy fun wore off.
I will likely revisit Saturday Night many times, and I encourage everyone to see it and decide for themselves.