Hotheaded and Chaotic, Saturday Night Is Wildly Fun
By Bea Becker ‘25
It's 10 o'clock on October 11th, 1975—in 90 minutes, Saturday Night Live will go on the air for the very first time, and a young Lorne Michaels is under massive pressure. The set is on fire, the cast is at each other's throats, the crew is revolting, and executives stand by ready to pull the plug.
Thus begins Saturday Night, a hilarious high-octane homage to SNL before it was an unshakable cultural institution, directed by Jason Reitman (best known for Juno). Flush with stars in roles big and small, the film moves at real time, following the catastrophic 90 minutes before the show begins for the first time. The pace is unceasing, and the energy can sometimes feel reminiscent of The Bear, palpably anxious. Every minute, the sense that there is absolutely no way this show is going to work—or even make it to air—grows, and the tension is delicious.
The film, with occasional deviations, follows a boyish Lorne Michaels (played masterfully by Gabriel LaBelle of The Fabelmans), a scrappy but idealistic hero. The odds, as it becomes clear throughout the film, are stacked against SNL’s success—they’re over budget, and while Lorne and his team are convinced that they’re revolutionizing TV, NBC isn’t so sure. A jab of a phone call to Lorne from Johnny Carson and a shockingly lewd exchange between Milton Berle (played by J.K. Simmons) and Chevy Chase (played by Cory Michael Smith) create a conflict between old and new that drives the film. The old guard, including an amazing performance by Willem Dafoe as an NBC exec, doesn't trust the judgment of Lorne and his team because of their youth and inexperience and doesn't believe that the show being made is one that anyone in America would want to see.
The cast is star-studded across the board, with well-established actors like Willem Dafoe and J.K. Simmons playing the old guard of TV, and up-and-comers (including Rachel Sennott and Kaia Gerber of Bottoms fame) playing the young actors about to be rising stars. The only true unknown in a major role is Matt Wood playing John Belushi. Wood's resemblance to Belushi is incredible, and he carries off the complex role masterfully.
Throughout the film, SNL cast members' apprehensions about the show create chaos and comedy. Garrett Morris (played by Lamorne Morris) sings a song, (though the film is not a musical) annoyed that as the only Black cast member he is demoted to bit parts and servile roles when he has credentials as a Broadway actor. While Chevy Chase is seemingly unbothered by the chaos of the night, his effortless likability causes conflict with Belushi, whose unpredictable temperament and refusal to sign his contract causes stress for the whole cast. The cast members’ discomfort with their roles (a bee costume features prominently) also offers some of the best comedy of the film, most notably in a scene where a group of women dressed as construction workers ogle a self-conscious Dan Aykroyd in mini-jorts.
This review is just a sampling of the many joys that Saturday Night has to offer. The film is, more than anything, quick. The jokes come constantly, often thrown casually in the middle of walk-and-talks through the studio, which is its own sensory paradise. Reitman’s attention to detail shines throughout, making Saturday Night rich in its comedy. There are so many little moments of joy and recognition that it might take a few watches to even catch them all.
I saw Saturday Night in the perfect context, at the Telluride Film Festival where it premiered, in a packed theater where nostalgia and laughter were palpable. It’s a raucous film, one that ultimately serves to remind us of a bygone time: not just the early years of SNL before it became too wedded to the idea of itself to be spontaneous, but a time when the idealism and passion of talented young people was enough to revolutionize TV. And, well, it's just really fun.