Last Updated on October 11, 2024 by
Saturday Night is a 2024 Drama Movie Directed by Jason Reitman. The film stars Gabriel LaBelle, Rachel Sennott, and Cory Michael Smith, with a runtime of 1h 49M, and will be released on October 11, 2024.
The American television show, NBC’s Saturday Night Live popularly referred to as SNL, is arguably among the most impactful TV programs ever to grace our screens, especially at this stage period to its 50th anniversary. Since its maiden season in 1975, the show has performed many stunts and said so many things that are unforgettable to this day, making it a cultural phenomenon altogether. But the story of how it all began is not only as radical and hilarious as the show itself. This is where Saturday Night, a biopic comedy directed by Jason Reitman comes in handy. It takes us back to one of the most intense nights in television history: the night SNL premiered.
It is entirely located in the NBC buildings and the rather chaotic atmosphere inside is shown: Lorne Michaels, the show’s creator, is under a lot of pressure. This is live television, and 90 minutes before the first episode, which still hasn’t been taped, it is evident that everything that could go wrong is going wrong. First, the show’s main cast is half too scared to be on the stage, some are under the influence, scripts are still incomplete and technical issues are on the rise. It also captures well how frantic one can get and how much pressure there is as the curtain moves closer to being drawn.
Lorne Michaels is portrayed as the man who is doing his best to hold everything together in Saturday Night, played by Gabriel LaBelle. He’s only 30 years old, but he’s got a massive responsibility on his shoulders: to ensure that this new and unconventional comic show goes live as planned. To be more precise, during the entire motion picture, we observe Lorne as a jumpy character who races through many diversified problems at NBC. Some actors consider comedy sketches as something vulgar, while others are too high to bother with such things. Moreover, his wife is sexually harassing one of the cast members which includes Dan Aykroyd portrayed by Dylan O’Brien, the other fellow cast member, John Belushi portrayed by Matt Wood is so annoyed by the mayhem that he attempts to flee the set.
The performance delivered by LaBelle is quite good but at times he looks quite young to emote the stressed-out 30-year-old Lorne. Still, he owns the film with passion and commitment, nailing the anxiety and stress of that specific evening.
It has a star-studded cast of some of the most popular comedians that were around during the 1970s. Cory Michael Smith does a fantastic job mimicking Chevy Chase, who is depicted as a rather annoying and self-absorbed man who repeatedly attempts to steal the show and become the next big TV star. Popular television personality Lamorne Morris portrays Garrett Morris, who, as the first black cast member of SNL, is left wondering how he ended up in the circus.
Lorne’s wife is played by Rachel Sennott, while a young NBC page is played by Finn Wolfhard, and a harsh and authoritative character on the shoot is J.K. Simmons as Milton Berle. Most of these actors do a pretty good job; however, some of the characters particularly female characters are underdeveloped and do not have sufficient acting time. For example, the characters Jane Curtin and Gilda Radner are present but they are not as powerful as the men, making it look like a wasted potential.
What Saturday Night may lack in the sphere of characterization, it more than makes up for in its high technical merits. The editing is fluent and intense, building up the suspense, and the cinematography makes us the witnesses of all the action. The active mobile camera makes the studio look like a labyrinth of chaos where anything possible becomes impossible. Things like fake blood, smoking lights, and even live animals roaming freely within the set adds to the equation of total anarchy.
The music in the film, also composed by Jon Batiste, is a combination of jazz, R&B, and classical music which gives a frantic pace to all scenes. This is further enhanced by the fact that the movie is shot in 16mm film which naturally gives the movie a 1970s feel.
All things considered, Saturday Night is enjoyable and offers a taste of what SNL is all about, but it is not a flawless film. It tends to be somewhat episodic at times and does not always provide the necessary time for some of the more appealing characters to be properly developed. It is filled with humor, however, it is not as consistent and effective as one might hope.
However, the movie effectively captures how crazy and dangerous the early days of Saturday Night Live were. It conveys the frenetic energy and the reality of live television, leaving us with the question, of how SNL is still around. Of course, the film is not without flaws, but even they do not spoil the fun and excitement of watching, which will undoubtedly be appreciated by fans of the television series and simply lovers of an inspiring behind-the-scenes story.
Therefore, Saturday Night is a gritty, disorganized homage to one of the most significant nights in television history. It may not be as refined as some familiar with the classic sketch show would like, but it has enough humor, zest, and notable performances to maintain interest until the very end. People who are interested in knowing how one of the longest-running comedy shows came to be, will watch this film and see how funny yet stressful that particular night was.
Saturday Night 2024 Parents Guide Age Rating
Saturday Night is rated R by the Motion Picture Rating (MPA) for language throughout, sexual references, some drug use and brief graphic nudity.
Saturday Night MOVIE PLOT FULL SUMMARY and parents’ guide will be updated closer to the release date (October 11, 2024.), so check back
