Saturday Night Live has been around for fifty years, but if you could have been at thirty Rockefeller Station back in 1975 you would have never known this long-running sketch comedy show would have stood the test of time. Saturday Night depicts the events leading up to the very first show on that fateful Saturday night in October. Those who were a part of that night will never forget. I was only 1 year old so I don’t remember that first show very well, but I watched it later on and loved it. I’ve watched this show religiously ever since.

This film picks up on Lorne Micheals (Gabriel Labelle) on the street waiting for a cab. When the viewers see the cab none other than Andy Kaufman (Nicolas Braun) gets out of the cab with a record player. We all remember that famous skit when he lip-syncs to the Mighty Mouse Theme Song. From then on the movie follows various actors who play the “Not Fit For Saturday Night Players” as they move in and out of the camera. Similar to “Birdman” in a way, but way more complex and very busy.

The cast of the film is the key to why it is such a good film. Seeing actors like Dylan O’Brian playing Dan Aykroyd was pretty cool. Most of the celebrity cameos were playing other well-known celebrities like Matthew Rhys as George Kinisin, and JK Simmons as “Uncle Milty” Milton Berle. Floridians probably don’t want to hear that name right about now though. Most of the cast such as Chevy Chase (Cory Micheal Smith), John Belushi (Matt Wood), and Gilda Radnor (Ella’s Hunt) was played by relative unknowns. No matter how you look at it, this cast was stacked from top to bottom.

Three particular performances stood out to me though. Lamorne Morris played Garrett Morris, which is no relation just an irony is all. He kept asking what his point of being here was. Here being on “Saturday Night Live” It was a good question we really never got the answer to, but we could figure it out all these years later. He was the only Black man on the roster. Morris played him well though and the message of his purpose wasn’t lost on me Rachel Sennett has been in a few popular FSN favorites such as Bodies, Bodies Bodies, Bottoms, and Shiva Baby, but her role as Rosie Shuster was nuanced and well-written. She can act in dramatic roles when given a good script. Her comedies are fine, but I prefer her in roles like this one. Cooper Hoffman as Dick Ebersal was very good. He was like the yin to Labelle’s yang in a lot of ways. Like the conscience in a way to the movie. He was fantastic in this role.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again when it comes to period piece films they have to be authentic to the times that they take place in. Jason Reitman took me back to that place and time of 1975 so beautifully. The street scenes were amazing, but the scenes in the studio where the show was being shot were equally impressive. All the little details were meticulously brought back to life. Such as the costumes and sets the show was taking place on. I was brought back in time to this day and it was glorious to watch every moment I was there.

Birdman and 1917 were two movies that tried to create a one-shot feeling. They both achieved that very well. This film surpassed that though. There were so many moving things and the camera changed direction so often it was hard to keep up with it most times. Reitman deserves a lot of credit for using this style of filmmaking. It showed the frantic nature of the time before the show aired perfectly. The hectic nature of this real-time feeling showed me the difficult nature of what Lorne Micheals was trying to do. I particularly liked the ticking clock ticking down the minutes before the show was about to air.

Saturday Night is a film that shows the difficult nature of what Michaels, played by LaBelle, is trying to accomplish. Every scene was thought out and filmed meticulously by the cinematographer Eric Steelberg. The way he followed and unpolluted certain characters was great; the camera work had a life of its own. The cast is one of the best cast in any movie I’ve seen all year. The standouts were Lamorne Morris, Rachel Sennett, and Cooper Hoffman. LaBelle was the star of the film, but these three were the heart of the movie. The cameos were fun, especially for Nicholas Braun in his two roles. He was fantastic in both roles he played. JK Simmons was funny as well. The main takeaway from this film is it’s not easy to make television even back in the 70s. People were constantly looking over the creator’s shoulder and second-guessing them. It was a miracle this show went to air. As a fan, I’m glad because we still get to see this exceptional show on the air fifty glorious years later.

4 stars

Dan Skip Allen