Can a film be considered a suspense movie if it isn’t a horror? Is a movie about hilarious people a comedy even if it isn’t funny? Will the audience feel impending dread even if the outcome is known? Saturday Night takes roughly ninety minutes (two-thirds of which are in real time) to answer each of these queries as the frantic dramatization of the hour and a half of sheer panic and chaos leading to the debut of Saturday Night Live’s original episode on October 11, 1975…if they can/could get to air.
Jason Reitman and Gil Kenan team up for the second time this year after the moderate success of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. However, they created a very different experience for this one. I’d be shocked if the difference of which of them is in the director chair has this drastic of an effect, but that is the only change. The most likely scenario is the dichotomy of the subject matter. Where Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire was actors (mostly) playing it straight in a funny story, Saturday Night is playing it funny among a straight story. The frantic pacing and Sorkin-esque style will be very reminiscent to fans of the “walk-and-talk” storytelling technique to transition among scenes and actors while keeping a natural realism in a wildly exaggerated narrative.
It would not be surprising to see this cast in discussions for ensemble awards when that time comes, but what does make that somewhat surprising is how evenly every role is handled without those characters being lost. The unquestioned star of the film is Gabriel LaBelle (The Fabelmans) as Lorne Michaels, but it is so well written and acted, that it is a mirage that could be quickly chalked up as a glue performance for everyone else to revolve around. This would be an omission of LaBelle’s amazing work conveying every emotion possible for a man who must be calmly in charge all while watching his life’s work and dreams being attacked from all sides.
Beyond LaBelle, every single member of the cast gives a performance worthy of recognition, but I think that massive credit should be given to John Papsidera as well as the actors and director. The way he found select lesser-known actors to portray the lesser-known (at the time) Saturday Night cast is so impeccable that every actor disappears as their character. The casting, direction, makeup department, etc. did such a remarkable job capturing the real-life troupe. After seeing the picture, check out the photo gallery IMDB compiled of the Saturday Night cast alongside their real counterparts.
My big concern for this film is that people will go in expecting a goofy comedy and be thrown off by a genuinely suspenseful drama (with laughs) that is an incredibly smart and unique experience. Much like its inspiration, Saturday Night is ahead of the curve on style and creativity. When you go to see it, note that there is a “ticking” throughout the picture in various forms providing an almost doomsday clock feeling to the narrative. Brilliant! I expected to enjoy it, but I loved Saturday Night from beginning to end and should be seen early and often for the film and its many easter eggs.
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