Jason Reitman revisits how a young Lorne Michaels pulled off live TV’s riskiest comedy experiment
By James Verniere/Boston Movie News
Jason Reitman’s “Saturday Night” is a stunning achievement in its capture of the pandemonium and exhilaration of putting on the first-ever evening of what was originally called “Saturday Night”—now known as “SNL.” This film is a treat for fans of the NBC show that became a cultural institution.
We begin with Lorne Michaels formerly Lipowitz (Gabriel LaBelle, “The Fabelmans”). It is actor LaBelle’s job to show us something relatable in the famously opaque creator of one of the most acclaimed series in television history. While the bland LaBelle does not exactly succeed, he does show us Michaels as unstoppable. Dave Tebet (Willem Dafoe), the head of talent, has given the relatively unknown young producer the opportunity to create a show that might frighten Johnny Carson (voice of Jeff Witzke) into letting the network air more (profitable) “The Tonight Show” repeats. The rivalry is so fierce that Tebet has a tape of a “The Tonight Show” repeat all cued up if Michael falters at the last minute.
It’s October, 1975, New York City. “The Yakuza” is playing on 42nd St.. The “Saturday Night” cast—Chevy Chase (Cory Michael Smith), Garrett Morris (Emmy Award-winner Lamorne Morris), Gilda Radner (Ella Hunt, terrific), Dan Aykroyd (“Teen Wolf” veteran Dylan O’Brien, nailing it), Laraine Newman (Emily Fairn), Boston’s Jane Curtin (Kim Matula) and John Belushi (Matt Wood)—is ready to make 90 minutes of live entertainment, including musical guests, without having it all blow up in their faces, although the conservative Christian NBC censor (Catherine Curtin) is determined to cut every salacious word and deed in the not-yet-completed script. Michaels appears to have more sketches and acts than he can fit into 90 minutes. He even hires a struggling comedy writer, whom he meets in a bar across the street from Rockefeller Center. An NBC page (Finn Wolfhard, “Stranger Things”) stands in the chilled wind outside Radio City Music Hall, handing out fliers to assemble a real New York City audience. Did I mention Andy Kaufman (Nicolas Braun of “Succession,” also playing Muppet master Jim Henson in the film), who is driven to the gig by his mother and brings his own record player?
“Saturday Night” is delightful in so many ways that I am reluctant to point out its faults. Michaels trying to get Belushi to sign a contract becomes wearisome. Wood resembles Belushi but has little of the Dionysian madness of the doomed real thing. The real Chevy Chase swears they were completely prepared and ready to go, suggesting Reitman’s suspense is phony. Loose cannon, drug-user George Carlin (Matthew Rhys, really?), sits in a dressing room, waiting to host. J.K. Simmons is a filthy-mouthed riot as Milton Berle, the famously well-endowed king of 1950s television, who liked to perform in drag. We have the pleasure of being serenaded by Janis Ian (Naomi McPherson). Cooper Hoffman is first-rate as flustered producer Dick Ebersol. The legendary, original head writer, Michael O’Donoghue (Tommy Dewey), is ready to fight anyone trying to interfere with his vision. As Michaels’ wife and artistic collaborator Rosie Shuster, a marvelous Rachel Sennott glows with a sense of enlightenment and attracts the camera to her like a trained dog. Is Rosie the force that drives Michaels?
During a rehearsal, a battery of lights crashes ominously to the floor. Someone pitches Michaels on a (very “Monty Python”-esque) future classic bit in which Aykroyd plays Julia Child. The cynical women in the show describe themselves as “sister,” “hot one,” and “fuckable mom.” Yes, Morris really sang about getting a shotgun and “killing all the whiteys.” Ebersol tells Michaels that the bosses want him (and his pushy, pinko 20-somethings) to fail. Billy Crystal (Nicholas Poldany) gets more screen time than necessary, doesn’t do his famous Muhammad Ali impersonation (Is it now not kosher?), and his storyline has no payoff. Dafoe’s Tebet takes Chase aside to remind him that he is “handsome, funny and … Gentile.” Bingo. Soon enough, Chase had movie stardom, although he’s had issues. “Saturday Night” may be phony, but it’s also smart and funny, although some bits that director Reitman and co-writer Gil Kenan (“Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire”) created don’t feel like they were written by seasoned comedy writers and could have used some goosing. “SNL” was anti-establishment, unorthodox and deeply subversive. But it would not have lasted 50 seasons without being funny.
‘Saturday Night’
Rating: R for language throughout, sexual references, some drug use, and brief graphic nudity.
Cast: Gabriel LaBelle, Rachl Sennott, Cory Michael Smith, Ella Hunt.
Director: Jason Reitman
Writer: Gil Keenan, Jason Reitman
Running time: 108 minutes
Where to Watch: In theaters Oct. 10
Grade: B+
Boston Movie News 