Film Review: 'Saturday Night' Is One Of The Best Movies of the Year

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but recreation is an art form. While a biopic is going to take liberties and can never get it one hundred percent right, there is something so wonderful about watching an ensemble transform themselves as closely as possible into the real thing. A lot has been said about Saturday Night Live, now entering its 50th year: the idea that its relevancy is waning, or that it hasn’t been funny since “my generation” (something that everyone likes to say about the cast they grew up with). Saturday Night – the newest film from Jason Reitman – shows how chaotic and fucked up the inner workings of the Studio 8H show was in its early years, chronicling the tight 90 minutes leading up to the October 11th, 1975 premiere of the Not For Ready Primetime Players.

It's 10:00 PM. No one is lined up outside the studio for the premiere of what is slated to be a big hit (in Lorne Michaels’ mind) for NBC: “Saturday Night”, an innovative new live show that will showcase comedy sketches, short films, musical performances, and stand-up. But the show’s format hasn’t been locked yet. Belushi hasn’t signed his contract yet (and he’s gone missing). Garrett Morris (Lamorne Morris) doesn’t even know why he was chosen. Crew members are revolting. And Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LaBelle) is at the center of it all – jumping from fire to fire and trying to simultaneously fix problems and assess what the fuck he’s just gotten himself into.

This is an ensemble cast of the highest form; it may be some of the best casting I’ve ever seen in a film. Each person completely embodies the cast member, studio executive or showrunner, and it draws you into the film as the clock continues inching towards 11:30 PM. Yes, there are nostalgic moments thrown in for diehard SNL fans, hinting at sketches to come that didn’t quite make it to air on that first night. But you can go into this film whether you are a Saturday Night Live fan or not; the tension of getting the show to air is what kept me glued to the screen.

A live show of this nature is a living, breathing organism. Saturday Night does an excellent job of showcasing this fact; scripts change, costume switches that need to happen in five seconds have to be coordinated, sketches are added, sketches are cut, temperamental actors from showbiz past come in and try to offer their two cents as to why the show will fail. There’s a lot beating down on not just Lorne Michaels, but the entire cast and crew on the eighth floor of Rockefeller Center. There’s a couple of moments in the film where the brakes are pumped just a tad, and it can kill the momentum. Then, someone steps on the pedal and we’re going one hundred in a twenty-five again. By the time the show went live, I was ready to burst out of my seat with excitement at what Reitman was able to bring to life.

Saturday Night is easily one of the best films of the year, and a serious Oscar contender.

Release Date: October 11th, 2024
Rated: R (for language throughout, sexual references, some drug use, and brief graphic nudity)
Running Time: 1 hour, 49 minutes

Directed by: Jason Reitman
Written by: Gil Kenan, Jason Reitman
Produced by: Jason Blumenfeld, Peter Rice, Jason Reitman, Gil Kenan

Starring: 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, Kaia Gerber, Tommy Dewey, Willem Dafoe, Matthew Rhys, J.K. Simmons