Saturday Night (2024), directed by Jason Reitman, stars Gabriel LaBelle, Rachel Sennott, Cory Michael Smith, Ella Hunt, Dylan O’Brien, Emily Fairn, Matt Wood, Lamorne Morris, Kim Matula, Nicholas Braun, Cooper Hoffman, Andrew Barth Feldman, Grace Barlow, Corinne Britti, Nicholas Podany, Willem Dafoe, Matthew Rhys, and J.K. Simmons. The film follows the story of the first-ever episode of Saturday Night Live. 90 minutes before the show goes live, creators Lorne Michaels (LaBelle) and Rosie Shuster (Sennott) struggle to balance the various clashing egos of their young, but talented cast of performers/comedians. On top of this, they are forced to deal with countless technical issues and a powerful producer (Dafoe) who is skeptical of the show’s risky, freeform production style.

Across the board, the movie’s biggest strength is its cast. Recognizable SNL alumni are portrayed perfectly, but addressing each performance would take far too long. This is because the film is stuffed with far too many characters. Yes, it’s nice to see many of these comedic legends portrayed onscreen, but unless you’re a diehard SNL fan, two-thirds of them will make the casual viewer scratch their heads and ask, “Who’s that?” This wouldn’t be a big deal if these less recognizable stars were established as characters within the runtime, but they just aren’t. Instead, the script often relies on the viewer knowing every member of the SNL cast, and that’s just not realistic. When it focuses on and makes jokes about celebs you already know, it works. In terms of telling the uninitiated who these people were, it feels hollow. If the script was more tightly focused and chose to focus on fewer characters, the movie would feel like a much more satisfying experience. For example, the script is so unfocused that it features a scene referencing classic comedian Milton Berle’s purportedly massive penis. Very few care about Milton Berle nowadays and I imagine even fewer are interested in his penis size. 

Yes, the production of SNL every week is an impressive task, but it’s a show that for the last 3 decades hasn’t really been as culturally relevant as it initially was. The show, by nature, is often rushed and unfunny, especially when looking at what they produce today. I fail to understand what the appeal is in a show that is often underbaked and appreciated simply because it’s live. Most modern audiences don’t care if it’s live, they simply care if it’s funny. Speaking of which, the comedy used is accurate for the time, but naturally just feels dated. I rarely laughed at the recreation of certain skits – the only chuckles coming from the more natural interactions between characters. It will be an important experience for diehard fans of this SNL era, but feels meaningless and surface-level for everyone else. Because the movie often lacks focus on the cultural impact that the show would eventually have, none of the goings-ons seem any more high-stakes than the typical lunch rush at McDonalds. The thing is, the tone acts as if these characters are attempting to move through a dangerous warzone when in reality the maximum stakes are a certain number of Americans experiencing a few bad minutes of TV. This feels like it falls a tad into the territory of movies produced by Hollywood that can’t help but pat themselves on the back every chance they get – as if storytellers and entertainers are akin to world leaders and medical scientists. Gimme a break. 

The pace is relentless and entertaining, but often just devolves into a bunch of zany and self-indulgent sequences where unexpected things happen with little forward momentum story-wise. Also, although the tension is palpable, it starts high and stays the same throughout. What truly archives tension is the way in which it is built up. It doesn’t matter if the tension is high to begin with because if it doesn’t increase, we become numb to it.

Overall, this is a fun but flawed movie that will appeal significantly more to diehard SNL fans than casual ones. The story is basic and the stakes don’t feel genuine, but it’s a great showcase of young actors portraying older legends. For SNL fans, it’s a must-see. For everyone else, it’s a serviceable yet somewhat hallow experience. That being said, it’s unique and feels like something that fills an unoccupied spot in film canon. B