“Saturday Night,” a biographical and comedic drama about the chaotic 1975 debut of “Saturday Night Live,” (SNL) had the movie theater erupting in laughter while my friends and I exchanged anxious looks that silently said, ‘there’s no way.’
The movie hit theaters across the United States this Friday, exactly 49 years after the show aired on network television and forever changed what late-night TV could be.
With scenes showing Milton Berle (J.K. Simmons) flashing his prosthetic manhood at Chevy Chase (Cory Michael Smith), and John Belushi (Matt Wood) throwing a tantrum while ice-skating in a bee costume, there’s no need to even mention the execution of Sesame Street’s Big Bird – may he rest in peace.
This movie was packed with creative, quirky scenes that overshadow the movie’s problems, including its historical inaccuracies, terrible lighting and an unbelievable amount of chaos almost sloppily packed into less than two hours.
Regardless of the script’s liberties, the entertainment value completely lives up to the spirit of SNL itself.
The overarching plot follows the show’s creator-producer, Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LaBelle), as he addresses crisis after crisis in the 90 minutes before SNL’s first episode. There are three hours’ worth of acts Lorne must pack into one episode; cast members haven’t signed their contracts;other cast members are fighting each other; things keep catching fire; there’s cocaine and marijuana and one crew member spends the entire movie laying bricks in an attempt to finish the main set.
The movie’s anxiety comes from the fact that network executive David Tebet (William Dafoe) is looking for any reason to air a rerun of “The Tonight Show” instead of SNL. The audience is constantly reminded of the countdown, either by cutting to a full screen clock or having a crew member call out the time. Behind Lorne, at all times, are rushing people and frantic motion.
Yet, Lorne seems to have a vision that transcends the chaos, and he never wavers in his belief that the show is what American, late-night TV needs. Interwoven in the quick scenes are themes of love, hope and the power of art.
The movie is also unafraid to make fun of itself, not hiding away from the show’s controversial history with self-deprecating jokes about racism and misogyny. Garrett Morris (Lamorne Morris) was the first Black cast member of SNL who, in real life, faced a lot of discrimination as an actor.
Garrett Morris, in the movie, alludes to this while having an identity crisis and singing, “I’m going to get me a shotgun and kill all the whities I see.” It was unexpected and perfectly fit, and the song did make an actual appearance on episode 11 of SNL.
There are a lot of elements “Saturday Night” doesn’t touch on, however. I would have loved to see more about what goes into creating an episode other than the chaos, the relationship between creators, the inspiration behind the show or even more about Lorne’s story as an up-and-comer. There were a lot of other directions the movie could have touched that it just didn’t.
The entire premise of the movie is even more confusing knowing that David Tebet was actually supportive of SNL in real life and the biggest concern was getting the host to wear a suit instead of a t-shirt. Some of the scenes in the movie are notoriously true; others are based on stories that happened later or are based on the show’s motifs – but the pressure of not having the show air? The driving force of the movie? Not true.
The whole film is also shot in this high-key lighting meant to imitate old TVs that I just didn’t care for. It was artsy, but it made the movie feel darker than it actually was.
That being said, the cast was perfect, and every performance was full of life. The props were fantastic, and the jokes were even better (duh). I probably would have enjoyed this movie slightly less had I streamed it at home, but watching it in theaters, late at night, with friends – it was the best experience.
Ultimately, the movie lived up to the expectation set by SNL: it was hilarious, and it took risks.
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