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Saturday Night

Updated: Nov 6

When SNL premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, I was in high school. On that night and every Saturday night afterward, my group of close friends would huddle at one of our houses to watch the show religiously. We got maybe 2/3 of the jokes, but 100% of the satiric rebellion. There had been NOTHING like it on television before. One could argue that "Laugh-In" came close in the sixties, but the late night time spot gave SNL a freedom of material that was unheard of at the time.

Jason Reitman's excellent new film SATURDAY NIGHT is a fast-paced, "West Wing"-like, propulsive look at the 90 minutes before that first show aired.

The actors playing now famous counterparts are excellent. Gabriel LaBelle who played young Sammy in Spielberg's "The Fabelman's" seems to have grown up overnight. He plays SNL founder Lorne Michaels, capturing the balls, madness and talent it took to launch TV in a brand new direction.

Cory Michael Smith (First Man) IS Chevy Chase in all his brash, cocky bravado, ready to be the breakout star before the show ever hits the airwaves. The pratfalls, the arrogance and the insecurities just below that towering surface are all there.

Dylan O'Brien (The Outfit) almost steals the show as Dan Aykroyd, capturing the rapid patter comic genius that became a landmark of the show's early days.

Newcomer Matt Wood IS John Belushi. He oozes sadness and reserve until the cameras come on and the manic actor we all fell in love with instantly comes alive.

Lamorne Morris (New Girl) also shines as Garrett Morris, a classically trained playwright and actor who spends most of those pre-show moments wondering why the hell he's even in the cast.

Ella Hunt captures the free spirit of Gilda Radner and Emily Fairn plays Laraine Newman, but they're both overshadowed by Kim Matula as Jane Curtin, who always seems to be ahead of her time here as the lone true observer of history in the making.

Writer/Director Jason Reitman (Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Up in the AIr) structures a whirlwind of momentum with an almost real-time, suspenseful rush to going live for the premiere episode. I was shocked how quickly this film flies by, a second viewing will be mandatory just to see what I missed in the corners of 30 Rock as the events flew by me.

That first episode was a landmark of TV moments in front of and behind the camera, all of which are recreated brilliantly by Reitman.

George Carlin (Matthew Rhys) is so coked up in his dressing room his jaw is locked up.

Andy Kaufman (Nicholas Braun from "Succession") arrives with a record player and the theme from Mighty Mouse, ready to create a moment that would blast SNL into the 1975 zeitgeist.

Milton Berle (JK Simmons) tries to steal Chevy Chase's girlfriend backstage 30 minutes before air time.

NBC exec Dick Ebersol, who would famously fire Dennis Miller years later, is hilariously captured by Cooper Hoffman (Licorice Pizza) as a two faced ass kisser who constantly bows to Dave Tebet (William Dafoe).

Brilliant playwright Tracy Letts plays writer Herb Sargent, Paul Rust (Inglorious Basterds) is Paul Shaffer and Thomas Dewey is a standout as the ultimate outsider, head writer Michael O'Donaghue.

Jon Batiste not only plays opening night musical guest Billy Preston, he also composed the non-stop hum of suspenseful music that lies under the action.

I went into the film hoping for an enjoyable recreation of a special time in my life and a pivotal change in television and entertainment. Reitman over delivers in every category and shocked me by creating a conclusion that is emotionally powerful.

We all know that the first show actually aired, but by the time all the hilarity, madness and smoke clears and the show actually goes live, Reitman punches you in the gut with the power of the moment. It didn't take me back, it yanked me back there, heart and soul.

SATURDAY NIGHT is one of the best films of 2024, a thrilling ensemble piece that never stops on its way to an A+.





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