From left, Dick Ebersol (Cooper Hoffman), Garrett Morris (Lamorne Morris), Chevy Chase (Cory Michael Smith), Laraine Newman (Emily Fairn), Gilda Radner (Ella Hunt), Jane Curtain (Kim Matula) and Dan Aykroyd (Dylan O’Brien) in “Saturday Night.” Credit: Hopper Stone/Sony Pictures via TNS
“The show doesn’t go on because it’s ready,” Lorne Michaels, creator and producer of “Saturday Night Live,” once said. “It goes on because it’s 11:30.”
This same quote is also used to open director Jason Reitman’s new movie, “Saturday Night.” The film follows Michaels (Gabriel LaBelle), as he navigates the 90 minutes leading up to the first episode of “Saturday Night Live,” which aired Oct. 11, 1975.
Throughout the film, the audience sees how things continuously go wrong for Michaels, as he deals with missing actors, sets falling apart and an overabundance of planned material sure to go past the show’s network-allotted time slot.
John Papsideria, the film’s casting director, truly hit the nail on the head. Not only do the film’s cast members do a great job at portraying their real-life counterparts, but they physically resemble them as well, something often lost in biographical films.
This is best seen with Cory Michael Smith, who portrays comedian and actor Chevy Chase in the film. In fact, Smith portrays Chase so well it felt like it was really Chase on the big screen.
Not only do the two actors look similar, but Smith executes Chase’s mannerisms perfectly.
Chase is known for being a difficult actor to work with, especially regarding scandals involving racial slurs, physical altercations and aggressiveness — something “Saturday Night” touches on a bit. In a particular scene, Chase gets into a physical altercation with John Belushi (Matt Wood) over a hurtful comment Chase made about Belushi’s weight.
Other familiar faces, including Rachel Sennott, Dylan O’Brien, J.K Simmons and Willem Dafoe, are also enjoyable to watch on the big screen. Each actor does a fantastic job at portraying the person they were tasked to play, depicting them in a light that contributes to the overall chaos of the story.
In the end, though, it’s LaBelle who truly steals the show. According to an article from Forbes, LaBelle spent considerable time preparing for his role as Michaels, and it shows.
“I watched the whole first season just to get an idea of the style of comedy, who the guest hosts were, and what would have been in their heads on that first night,” LaBelle said in the article. “I read a lot of books about how Lorne got to know everyone, formed the show, and what his earlier career was like to understand how these relationships developed.”
In the film, Michaels is conveyed as resilient, despite dealing with the chaos. However, the hectic atmosphere and disorganized situations are what make the film so fun to watch.
Another contributor to the movie’s immersiveness was its use of sound. For example, when tensions were rising in a scene, upbeat and rather unsettling music would play in the background of the scene.
In a particular scene, when Michaels’ cousin and assistant Neil Levy, portrayed by Andrew Barth Feldman, is stressed out about trying to find a missing actor, he is encouraged to take a hit of weed. As Levy continues walking around in search of the actor, the audience gets to see how the hit of this substance is affecting him.
The audience begins to hear everything in slow motion, as if hearing Levy’s surroundings from his perspective. To top this stressful scene off, there is an uprising drumbeat playing in the background, adding to the buildup throughout the scene.
“Saturday Night” allows viewers to be completely enthralled with every event that happens throughout the movie, and with a cast of quirky personalities, the film leaves audiences wanting to see more of every character. Whether watching with friends or alone, it is impossible not to laugh out loud.
Rating: 4.5/5
