Jason Reitman’s Saturday Night was one of my most anticipated films of not only the Telluride Film Festival but of 2024 itself.
I have been a decades-long fan of NBC’s iconic sketch comedy show (which makes the recent downturn in actually funny episodes all-the-more painful). There are definitely casts and seasons that are better than others (I’m partial to the Dana Carvey and Will Ferrell -led runs in the late 1980s and early 1990s), but the original band of Not Ready For Primetime Players (Chevy Chase, Dan Ackroyd, John Belushi, Garrett Morris, Gilda Radner, Jane Curtain, and Laraine Newman) remains the most iconic. They were basically kids running around a 30 Rock playground, bringing their counterculture flair to homes across America. You may not realize it now, but they were controversial and risk-taking in the very best way. Something Saturday Night Live doesn’t even attempt today.
Reitman’s film chronicles the roughly 90 minutes leading up to the series’ premiere in a story assembled from interviews conducted with anyone living who was there that night. There’s a lot of artistic license here, but essentially Lorne Michaels (played here by The Fabelmans’ Gabriel LaBelle) could barely contain the explosion of creativity, bad manners, drugs, and sex that happened backstage. It’s a madcap take on the “Let’s Put On a Show” genre with a brilliant, mind-blowing ensemble cast that sells the material in brilliantly entertaining ways — even if not everything is handled with perfection.
Saturday Night is the best film Jason Reitman has directed in decades, second only to Up In the Air. The running time breezes by with brutal efficiency, giving every character at least one significant moment in this Altman-esqe enterprise. He juggles the astonishing cast with rapid-fire editing and camerawork and an absolutely stunning production design. You’re a fly on the wall, zooming through the corridors of 30 Rock trying to grasp every bit of sight and sound available. Not everyone could deliver this film as efficiently as he does, and it’s truly great work.
But the film belongs to the players, and God almighty, how great they are. Most impressive to me were Rachel Sennott as Rosie Shuster (SNL writer and Michaels’ then wife), Cory Michael Smith as Chevy Chase, Dylan O’Brien (astonishingly great) as Dan Ackroyd, Lamorne Morris as Garrett Morris (receiving thunderous applause for a rendition of a classic Garrett Morris skit), and Succession‘s Nicholas Braun as both Andy Kauffman and Jim Henson. And, oh yeah, J.K. Simmons deserves a “cameo Oscar” if such things existed for playing Milton Berle. THAT is a performance you have to see to believe.
Given all the things that Reitman and screenwriting partner Gil Kenan need to cram into a roughly 90-minute film, it’s a shame that the one aspect that really felt undercooked was the treatment of the three women in the cast. Of them, Kim Matula’s Jane Curtain probably comes off best, but none are given the same depth and attention as their male counterparts. You do have nice glimpses of Gilda Radner’s effortless joy, but nothing feels exactly right. Part of that is issues with casting. Who today looks or acts like Gilda Radner, a once-in-a-lifetime comic force?
Looking past that, Saturday Night is a massively entertaining, crowd-pleasing film that audiences should receive with wide open arms. There are so many wonderful things to behold here that you almost need a second viewing to really take it all in. I’m not sure what awards voters will think of this, but that’s totally fine with me. Not every film has to be an Oscar player, but sometimes great entertainments do sneak in. It would be a fun addition to the lineup for sure and one that could appeal to a mass audience.
Saturday Night opens nationwide on October 11 in theaters only.
