We are at the apex of . Now entering its 50th year, 鈥淪NL鈥� has never been more unquestioned as a bedrock American institution. The many years of cowbells, Californians, mom jeans, Totino's, unfrozen caveman lawyers and vans down by the river have more than established 鈥淪NL鈥� as hallowed late-night ground and a comedy citadel.
So it鈥檚 maybe appropriate that Jason Reitman鈥檚 big-screen ode, should arrive, amid all of the tributes, to remind of the show's original revolutionary force. Reitman鈥檚 film is set in the 90 minutes leading up to showtime before the first episode aired Oct. 11, 1975.
The atmosphere is hectic. The mood is anxious. And through cigarette smoke and backstage swirl rushes (Gabriel LaBelle), who鈥檚 trying to launch a new kind of show that even he can鈥檛 quite explain.
鈥淪aturday Night,鈥� which opens in theaters Friday and expands in the coming weeks, isn鈥檛 a realistic tick-tock of how Michaels did it. And, while it boasts a number of fine performances, I wouldn鈥檛 recommend it for anyone hoping to see an illuminating portrait of the original Not Ready for Prime Time Players.
No, Reitman鈥檚 movie is striving for a myth of 鈥淪aturday Night Live.鈥� Michaels鈥� quest in the film 鈥� and though he never strays farther than around the corner from 30 Rock, it is a quest 鈥� is not just to marshal together a live show on this particular night, it's to overcome a cigar-chomping old guard of network television. (Milton Berle is skulking about, even Johnny Carson phones in.) In their eyes, Michaels is, to paraphrase Ned Beatty in 鈥淣etwork,鈥� meddling with the primal forces of nature.
In mythologizing this generational battle, 鈥淪aturday Night鈥� is a blistering barn-burner. In most other ways (cue the Debbie Downer trombone), it鈥檚 less good. Reitman, who penned the script with Gil Kenan, is too wide-eyed about the glory days of 鈥淪NL鈥� to bring much acute insight to what was happening 50 years ago. And his film may be too spread thin by a clown car鈥檚 worth of big personalities. But in the movie鈥檚 primary goal, capturing a spirit of revolution that once might have seized barricades but instead flocks to Studio 8H, 鈥淪aturday Night鈥� at least deserves a Spartan cheer.
A clock ticking down to showtime runs as ominously as it might in 鈥淢acGruber鈥� throughout 鈥淪aturday Night.鈥� Nothing is close to ready for air. John Belushi (Matt Wood) hasn鈥檛 signed his contract. Twenty-eight gallons of fake blood are missing. And, most pressing of all, the network is poised to air a Carson rerun if things don't take shape. An executive pleading for a script is told, 鈥淚t鈥檚 not that kind of show.鈥�
What kind is it? Michaels, himself, is uncertain. He鈥檚 gathered together a 鈥渃ircus of rejects,鈥� most of them then unknown to the public. There is (Ella Hunt), Chevy Chase (Cory Michael Smith), Garrett Morris (Lamorne Morris), Jane Curtin (Kim Matula) and Dan Aykroyd (Dylan O鈥橞rien). Also in the mix are Jim Henson (Nicholas Braun), who spends much of the movie complaining about the untoward things the cast has been doing to Big Bird, Andy Kaufman (Braun again), Billy Crystal (Nicholas Podany) and the night鈥檚 host, (Matthew Rhys).
Most of them pass too quickly to make too much of an impression, though a few are good in their moments 鈥� notably Smith, playing up Chase鈥檚 braggadocio, O鈥橞rien and Morris. Garrett Morris, the cast's lone Black member, is in a quandary over his role 鈥� because of his race and because he was a playwright before being cast. Though 鈥淪NL鈥� was revolutionary, it hardly arrived a finished product. Morris here is a reminder of the show鈥檚 sometimes 鈥� and ongoing 鈥� not always easy relationship to diversity, in race and gender.
It also wasn鈥檛 always such a break from what came before. When Chase faces off with Berle in a contest over Chase鈥檚 fiancee, Jacqueline Carlin (Kaia Gerber) 鈥� one of the movie鈥檚 few truly charged scenes 鈥� they seem more alike than either would like to admit.
It鈥檚 not a great sign for 鈥淪aturday Night鈥� how much better the old guard is than the young cast. Along with Simmons鈥� Berle is Willem Dafoe鈥檚 NBC executive David Tebet. He provides the movie its most 鈥淣etwork鈥�-flavored drama, seeing 鈥渁 prophet鈥� in Michaels and, despite wavering skepticism, urging him to be 鈥渁n unbending force of seismic disturbance.鈥� Also in the mix 鈥� and a reminder that the suits had newbies, too 鈥� is Dick Ebersol (a refreshingly genuine ), a believer in Michaels but only up to a point.
Ultimately, this is Michaels鈥� show, and he鈥檚 played winningly by even if the characterization, like much of 鈥淪aturday Night,鈥� is a little thin. Sometimes by his side, as he races to get the show ready is the writer and Michaels鈥� then-wife, Rosie Shuster (the excellent Rachel Sennott), who you want more of.
It seems to be an unfortunate truth that dramatizations of 鈥淪aturday Night Live鈥� inevitably kill it of laughter. That鈥檚 true here just as it was in Aaron Sorkin鈥檚 鈥淪tudio 60 on the Sunset Strip.鈥� The exception to that, of course, is Tina Fey鈥檚 鈥�30 Rock,鈥� which was smart enough to abandon all the 鈥淪NL鈥� mythology and focus on what鈥檚 funny.
This 鈥淪aturday Night鈥� may have a legacy of its own; a lot of this cast, I suspect, will be around for a long time. And, ultimately, when the show finally comes together, it鈥檚 galvanizing. The cleverest thing about Reitman鈥檚 film is that it ends, rousingly, just where 鈥淪NL鈥� starts.
鈥淪aturday Night,鈥� a Columbia Pictures release is rated R by the Motion Picture Association for language throughout, sexual references, some drug use and brief graphic nudity. Running time: 108 minutes. Three stars out of four.
Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
