‘Saturday Night’ is a Brilliant Showcase of Live Debauchery and Mayhem -

By Luis Zonenberg

Hot off of his sweet success with Ghostbusters: Afterlife, director Jason Reitman takes a break from busting ghosts to deliver a madcap comedy of epic proportions. This film focuses on the absolute trainwreck the production crew went through on the night SNL debuted on NBC television. With the actual show now on its 50th season, it is insane to think of how chaotic its origin is, which is perfectly reflected in this very film.

We focus on producer Lorne Michaels (played by Gabriel La Belle), the creator of Saturday Night as it was originally called while he tries to micromanage all of the cast and crew as absolute anarchy ensues on set. With the writers inebriated, the set on fire, and the crew high on coke as they assault each other while the investors wait in the lounge, Michaels has 90 minutes to get them all in order before they go live on TV or else the network will pull the plug on them.

This is an exercise in fast-paced chaos filmed to perfection! The script for this movie was insane with brilliant quippy banters following after the other intercut with some neat visual gags, such as a literal ticking clock for example. There was not one joke that missed with each one having me and the audience rolling in the aisles.

This is very cleverly shot like a documentary, even being filmed on 16mm Kodak film to evoke the grungy style of the 1970s. Most of it was practically handheld, following the characters through the halls as they bicker and assault each other. This style instantly immersed me into the world, allowing me to not only feel like I’m in that time period, but also like I’m trapped with all these lunatics as they try to salvage what could have been an absolute trainwreck.

It is also important to note that this event launched the careers of many comedians like Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi and Jim Henson just to name a few. Considering this is more of a historical dramedy, if that’s even a thing, I was interested in seeing how these people would be represented here. While I can’t say that they’re authentic, they do capture all of their dry wit and personalities down to perfection!

The costumes were also very well designed. I think by now costume designers have gotten down the look and feel of the 1970s, but the extra challenge I wanted to take note here was how these costumes would fit the ginormous personalities of all these egotistical comedians and producers who ooze charisma throughout the movie. They not only excelled at that to my surprise, but they also took notice of costume changes in the skits and mastered how to do this in less than a second on top of that!

While I at first found fault in some of the actor’s abilities to capture the essence of such iconic personalities, their performances grew on me throughout the movie. This ultimately made me realize not only how strong their performances were, but how strong the script was as well. With a smart script and an all-star cast, director Jason Reitman orchestrates a frenzied Saturday Night that captures the pure chaos that now defines generations of brilliant comedy.
Rating: ★★★★ of four