(***1/2)
It’s crazy! One hour and 40 minutes of controlled chaos displays the 90 crazy minutes before air time in the hectic buildup to the first Saturday Night Live show. Wow. Hold on to your coffee cup!
You don’t have to know much about SNL to appreciate the artistry and insanity that went into this fine-tuned reenactment. A funny behind-the-scenes look that captures the insanity of an auspicious moment back on Oct. 11, 1975. A hilarious farce that’s skillfully directed by Jason Reitman (Juno, Up in the Air) and cowritten by Reitman and Gil Kenan. Just sit back and watch how a TV show gets made when everyone’s high and the ringmaster, Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LaBelle, The Fablemans), is under constant assault.
As the diminutive Michaels organizes, sooths feelings and adds and subtracts skits, he’s hit with a deluge of problems: John Belushi is missing. Garrett Morris wonders why he’s the only Black person in the building. Chevy Chase is pompous. Dan Aykroyd weird. Gilda Radner, Laraine Newman and Jane Curtin form a feminist front. The host George Carlin thinks the whole thing is beneath him. Jim Henson feels estranged and dissed for being wholesome. Milton Berle wants the time slot. And a network executive (Willem Dafoe) would stick a shiv into Michael’s back if there was any room left. Stand in line Satan. The voice of reason belongs to writer Rosie Shuster (Rachel Sennott), who’s Lorne’s better half and a guiding light. But even her quiet strength may not save the day.
An impish spirit prevails over all scenes. The crazed characters, outlandish situations, big egos, jealousy, rivalries and sabotage reign. Somehow, in the midst of the melee, Lorne Michaels must make sense of it all and produce a TV variety program that parodies American culture and politics. Fewer and fewer people believe that will ever happen. Not tonight. This isn’t a movie about putting on a show (Shakespeare in Love).This is a movie about putting on a circus, when the clowns, lion tamer, aerialists, equestrians and jugglers are deciding if they’ll participate. At the last minute! And it doesn’t look good. Co-creator Dick Ebersol (Cooper Hoffman) is blunt with his friend Lorne Michaels. Dick: “We’re just not ready.” Lorne: “Doesn’t matter that we’re ready. It matters that it’s 11:30. That’s when we go on.”
Reitman’s direct like a plate spinner, twirling dishes on sticks and keeping them all going for as long as necessary. At least until the final credits. The timing and rhythm (editors Nathan Orloff and Shane Reid) are precise. Stunts, arguments and surprises roll into each other like an avalanche. The pace only slows down for bits of drama, moments of clarification, confessions and revelations. The camerawork (cinematographer Eric Steelberg) floats in, out, around and above almost like an invisible drone. The sets (production designer Jess Gonchor) recollect the time, place and evening. While the clothes (costume designer Danny Glicker) are an extension of the people.
The entire cast seems like they are in on the game. J.K. Simmons as the cocky Milton Berle. Matthew Rhys makes the surly George Carlin snarl. The calming presence of Sennott as the coproducer is almost spiritual. Matt Wood’s interpretation of the petulant, drugged out John Belushi hits a home run. Lamorne Morris, no relation to the real Garrett Morris, plays the elder witty statesman of the cast who questions his role. Then he becomes the supreme comic relief with a devilishly funny song about hating a whole race. It comes at a time when tension is high, the show’s existence is in question and there’s no time left to fail. Yet Morris finds the humor in it all.
Do you have to be an SNL fan to love this movie? No. If you’ve ever tried to put on an event and lived through absolute trauma right up until it happened, you’ll get the point. If you like comedy that is spread across satire, physical pranks, outlandish situations, endless one-liners, improvisation and dark humor, Saturday Night will be your smorgasbord.
Funniest movie of the year. A comedy that could laugh itself into an Academy Award nomination. And that would give, Reitman, Michaels and SNL fans the last laugh.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZ9O_tl5Npk
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