Movie Review: "Saturday Night" (2024)
Saturday Night Movie Review
Written by Stuart D. Monroe
Released by Columbia Pictures
Directed by Jason Reitman
Written by Gil Kenan and Jason Reitman
2024, 109 minutes, Rated R
Released on October 11th, 2024
Starring:
Gabriel LaBelle as Lorne Michaels
Rachel Sennot as Rosie Shuster
Cory Michael Smith as Chevy Chase
Ella Hunt as Gilda Radner
Dylan O'Brien as Dan Aykroyd
Emily Fairn as Laraine Newman
Matt Wood as John Belushi
Lamorne Morris as Garrett Morris
Kim Matula as Jane Curtin
Nicholas Braun as Andy Kaufman
Nicholas Podany as Billy Crystal
Finn Wolfhard as NBC Page
Cooper Hoffman as Dick Ebersol
Willem Dafoe as Dave Tebet
Matthew Rhys as George Carlin
J.K. Simmons as Milton Berle
Review:
It’s been forty-nine years since the premiere of Saturday Night Live on NBC, and I can’t help but wonder why it took someone this long to make a film about one of television’s most important, culture-changing shows of all time. Better late than never, though. Even better, we get criminally underrated writer-director Jason Reitman (Thank You for Smoking, Juno) at the helm.
I won’t lie about the fact that I was pretty stoked about this advanced screening.
My mother was an absolute nut for the early days of SNL. When I was a kid (I want to say it was 1988), Nick at Nite ran a weekend-long marathon of the show’s first few seasons. This prompted my dear, sweet mother to rush to the store and buy multiple packs of six-hour VHS tapes to record the entire thing so she could share it all with my brother and me. It became our nightly TV viewing during and after dinner. Hence, my obsession was born.
I consider myself a bit of a historian of the show’s early days after absorbing literally every episode from 1975 through the early ‘80s.. I told myself going into this screening to try and have zero expectations, and I think I succeeded. I really do. That’s why I’m so goddamn tickled that after one hour and forty-nine minutes, I sat in the Alamo Drafthouse with a big, goofy grin on my face.
The film covers the hour and a half before airtime on October 11th, 1975. It’s a night that’s infamous in comedy history- there was a set fire, cataclysmically stoned writers, an AWOL John Belushi who had yet to sign his contract, and so much general fuckery that it’s a miracle the show ever made it to air. It’s the stuff of TV legend, and Jason Reitman clearly wants you to feel nostalgia for something that’s not just a show but a whole-ass moment in time. These were the days of Johnny Carson’s “safe comedy” and network variety shows, after all. This show starring a bunch of young, unknown comedians in a sketch comedy format shouldn’t have worked….but it did. And it changed the course of American culture forever, thank God.
The “Not Ready for Prime Time Players”
Fittingly enough, Saturday Night features an ensemble cast of lesser-known actors paired with a handful of major names like Willem Dafoe and J.K. Simmons. Much like the iconic comedians they portray, this version of the “Not Ready for Prime Time Players” knocks it clean out of the park. All do their job with aplomb, but particular kudos must go to Cory Michael Smith (Gotham) as Chevy Chase and Dylan O’Brien (Teen Wolf) as Dan Ackroyd. The last time an iconic performer has been channeled with such accuracy and style was Rami Malek’s turn as Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody. As for the big names, I now need an entire movie with J.K. Simmons as Milton Berle. It’s a legit “holy shit” performance; that man sinks his teeth deeply into that role and steals scenes.
From the opening scene, the energy is frenetic and only gets faster and more intensely hectic with each passing minute. I don’t know how much of the minutiae is historically accurate (aside from the major issues), but as dramatizations go it’s simply sublime. Even though you (obviously) know how it all turns out, you’re pulling for this bold and daring show so hard by the end of the film that when you hear “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!” it brings a nostalgic tear to your eye and the aforementioned goofy grin.
Saturday Night is essential viewing for anyone (like my Mom) who lived through that show in their prime. It may be generic to say, but it just feels so good and so right. With its dialed-in ensemble cast, note-perfect set design, and deep respect for the original material, Saturday Night is one of the best movies of 2024.
And I couldn’t be happier about that. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going down the rabbit hole of old SNL videos on YouTube. Gotta get my Land Shark on, you know.
Grade:
5.0 out of 5.0 stars
