Saturday Night - Film Review

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Told in close to real-time, Saturday Night dramatises the turbulent 90 minutes leading up to the first broadcast of the American sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live. Director Jason Reitman presents the story frenetically, his camera in constant motion as it races through the studios and backrooms of NBC in New York following the show's young producer, Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LaBelle), who must wrangle temperamental actors, cynical network executives and surly stagehands in order to get his show to air.



The first problem for Michaels is the show has no crowd, so an NBC page is out on the street soliciting for audience members. Another headache is that Michaels, who is assisted by his wife Rosie (played by Rachel Sennot), has close to three hours of material lined up, yet only 90 minutes of airtime. Numerous technical challenges need to be overcome, including mathematically impossible costume changes and logistical feats which will test stagehands, vividly illustrated when a bank of lights topples to the studio floor during rehearsal.

The focus at times shifts to the show's cast members, which include some soon-to-be famous names. We see a young Chevy Chase (Cory Michael Smith) and his quick wit schmoozing a roomful of television executives. We see John Belushi (Matt Wood) refusing to sign his contract; non-committal as to whether he will take to the stage come showtime. We see a lot of Garrett Morris (Lamorne Morris), the show's only black performer, who continually questions his inclusion on the show.

There are still further asides. An early-career Jim Henson has brought along his Muppets and the cast delight in leaving them in obscene positions. Television legend Milton Berle hangs around the set before getting his dick out. Johnny Carson, the king of late night himself, phones Michaels to wish him ill. But all plot points eventually track back to Michaels as he barrels through corridors, the clock striking ever closer to airtime.

Despite the harried pace and in-built countdown, Saturday Night never really gets tense and feels longer than its 109-minute runtime. Much time is spent laying obstacles in front of Michaels, which end up getting resolved, often without his intervention. The drama ends up being light and fluffy, lacking a rawness probably closer to actual events. And for a film about a show that launched the careers of some of America's most beloved comics, Saturday Night is not overly funny.

The acting is serviceable. Gabrielle LaBelle in the lead performs well, unflappable up to a point, half-mad genius, half manager. Cory Michael Smith as Chevy Chase is an uncanny resemblance. Willem Defoe is also excellent as the old-school television bigwig. We see a lot less of the female cast members: Gilda Radner, Joan Carbunkle, Jane Curtin and Laraine Newman - they are reduced to bit players in underwritten parts.

Once you get used to the twitchy camera work, the film's visuals are quite lush, noticeably rich and textured, evoking well the industrial feel of the smoky television studio. Saturday Night does offer points of interest and will surely appeal to diehard fans of Saturday Night Live and the comedians the show made big. But it's hard not to think there might have been a livelier, more cutting origin tale in this source material.

Saturday Night is in cinemas October 31.

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