‘Saturday Night’ Seeks to Capture the Prelude to One of the Biggest Seventh Days of the Week of All Time

September 26, 2024

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I’m not Chevy Chase, and they’re not (CREDIT: Hopper Stone/Columbia Pictures)

Starring: Gabriel LaBelle, Rachel Sennott, Cory Michael Smith, Ella Hunt, Dylan O’Brien, Emily Fairn, Matt Wood, Lamorne Morris, Kim Matula, Finn Wolfhard, Nicholas Braun, Cooper Hoffman, Kaia Gerber, Andrew Barth Feldman, Tommy Dewey, Willem Dafoe, Matthew Rhys, J.K. Simmons, Jon Batiste, Naomi McPherson, Taylor Gray, Mcabe Gregg, Nicholas Podany, Billy Bryk, Ellen Boscov, Joe Chrest, Catherine Curtin, Leander Suleiman, Paul Rust, Robert Wuhl, Corinne Britti, Kirsty Woodward, Josh Brener, Brad Garrett

Director: Jason Reitman

Running Time: 109 Minutes

Rating: R for General Crudeness and Casual Backstage Drug Use, and One Unsolicited Private Release

Release Date: September 27, 2024 (Limited Theaters)/Expands October 4 and October 11

What’s It About?: As the prophet declared, “The show doesn’t go on because it’s ready, it goes on because it’s 11:30.” While that is a widely accepted maxim in 2024, a few decades ago it was met by the masses with an outpouring of skepticism. According to Saturday Night director Jason Reitman and his co-writer Gil Kenan’s telling, things were so touch-and-go that the first episode of Lorne Michaels’ brainchild barely made it to air in one piece. While the hour-and-a-half that began on the National Broadcasting Company at 11:30 PM Eastern on October 11, 1975 has since been immortalized, the hour-and-a-half that immediately preceded it was also apparently quite the transformative odyssey. And so, Saturday Night‘s log line is quite simple: the real-time chaos that led right up to the birth of one of the most famous TV shows of all time.

What Made an Impression?: Would You Accept a Wolverine in Place of the Truth?: Saturday Night is filled with an unending series of too-perfect coincidences that I don’t really have any interest in fact-checking (at least not in terms of whether or not they make for a worthwhile movie). Like, did John Belushi really refuse to sign his contract until approximately 15 minutes before the cameras started rolling? Surely that must have been sorted out days, if not weeks, earlier? I suppose it’s dramatically true enough, as Belushi was certainly known for being erratic. Some of these stunningly on-the-nose moments are kind of funny, like when Lorne has a sarcastic back-and-forth with a building employee who supposedly thinks that he’s producing Saturday night the night, as opposed to Saturday Night the TV show. But then there are similar incidents that I found myself groaning at, like Milton Berle lecturning everyone he encounters about the way that showbiz really works (although J.K. Simmons does play Uncle Miltie with the just right flavor of stunningly pompous).
Inescapable Iconography: It’s hard to imagine that Saturday Night will be anyone’s introduction to SNL. Even if you don’t watch every new episode like clockwork, you’ve surely encountered some of it through cultural osmosis. But save for a couple of semi-unavoidable bits, the movie mostly avoids the pitfall of simply recreating memes and catchphrases. Nevertheless, it isn’t like this is a completely untold story. The behind-the-scenes foibles have been recounted in numerous outlets on numerous occasions, and the characters are based on quite famous real people, many of whom are still alive. So it’s no surprise that some of these performances are mostly glorified impressions. To be fair, some of them are quite good impressions. Dylan O’Brien in particular captures the singularly rat-a-tat patter of Dan Aykroyd. Others have room to go a little deeper, especially Gabriel LaBelle in the lead, as he effectively captures the harried arrogance and earnestness of attempting to spark a revolution through television. But as good as LaBelle is, I can’t help but look at him and go, “That’s not Lorne Michaels.” It’s close, but not quite. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. But it is uncanny.
It’s Saturday Night, and You’re Not: I kind of wish that Saturday Night had gone the Weird biopic route, by maintaining some semblance of reality while obviously comedically exaggerating everything else. It certainly would have been in the spirit of a sketch show that has aired plenty of memorable parodies in its own right. Of course, it would be unfair to review it for not being something that it’s not trying to be. But it’s still fun to wonder, “What if?” As it is, we’ve got something that feels like cosplay populated by body snatchers. It’s energetic and loving cosplay, but the thrills are mostly theoretical rather than visceral.

Saturday Night is Recommended If You Like: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, Really sticking it to the censors, Bricks

Grade: 3 out of 5 Affiliates

‘The Fabelmans’ aka Mr. Spielberg, Direct Thyself

November 9, 2022

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What a Fabel, man. (CREDIT: Merie Weismiller Wallace/Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment)

Starring: Gabriel LaBelle, Paul Dano, Michelle Williams, Seth Rogen, Jeannie Berlin, Judd Hirsch, Julia Butters, Keeley Karsten, Sophia Kopera, Robin Bartlett

Director: Steven Spielberg

Running Time: 151 Minutes

Rating: PG-13 for Some Cheeky Moments and a Few Bursts of Anger

Release Date: November 11, 2022 (Limited)/November 23, 2022 (Expands Nationwide)

What’s It About?: He’s been making some of the iconic movies in cinematic history for more than 50 years, and now he’s finally welcoming us into his personal life. I’m talking about Steven Spielberg, of course. Or actually I’m talking about Sammy Fabelman (Gabriel LaBelle), his fictionalized avatar in The Fabelmans.

Now, when I said a few sentences ago that Spielberg was “finally” letting us in, I was kind of joking, since certain aspects of his biography have been public knowledge for quite a while: the childhood in New Jersey and Arizona, the amateur moviemaking, his mother leaving his father for his father’s best friend, his dad making significant contributions to the history of computing. In fact, his background has already informed much of his filmography. So for plenty of cineastes, The Fabelmans is hardly necessary. But just because something isn’t surprising doesn’t mean it’s not worth watching, and there’s plenty to enjoy in Spielberg’s excavation of his own memories.

What Made an Impression?: You know, when I start reading a book, I often like to skip ahead to the last sentence to give myself a little preview of my future. So with that in mind, I’ll mention that The Fabelmans ends with a delightful bang in the form of Sammy’s encounter with a certain real-life legendary director, as played by another legendary director. I won’t say who they are, but I will say: you guys are gonna love it.

Anyway, what else should I spotlight that happens in the 2-plus hours leading up to that meeting? How about the fact that everyone in the cast is so fully committed? That’s certainly to be expected, considering their resumes and the level of professionalism around them. But seriously, everyone is such a character. Each member of the Fabelman family is bound to leave an indelible imprint on your heart. As Sammy’s mom and dads Mitzi and Burt, Michelle Williams and Paul Dano are exactly the sort of (usually, but not always) supportive mid-century suburban parents you’d hope they would be. And as the oldest of Sammy’s younger sisters Reggie, Julia Butters is wonderfully unrecognizable to those who know her from American Housewife and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood… Even Uncle Boris is unforgettable despite only showing up for a few days to sit shiva. That’s what happens when you give a small but crucial part to Judd Hirsch, I suppose.

And there are plenty of other people to meet outside the family as well! Seth Rogen is the most avuncular he’s ever been as Burt’s coworker/best friend Bennie. And Sammy’s quite the friend-maker himself. He needs to round out the casts for all the ambitious home movies he’s making, after all. Then when he makes his way to high school, he can’t help but encounter bullies, and girls who help clean him up after he runs afoul of those bullies. On that note, one of the best scenes is a conversation that he has with his soon-to-be-girlfriend and another girl who’s just learned (from Sammy) that her boyfriend’s been cheating on her. You know how teenagers are! Similarly, you probably also know how Steven Spielberg is, and it’s lovely to see that play out in Fabelman Form.

The Fabelmans is Recommended If You Like: E.T., Just about any American movie or TV show set in the 1950s or early 60s, and probably Cinema Paradiso (which I haven’t seen in its entirety, but based on what I’ve heard, it sounds like a good comp)

Grade: 4 out of 5 Cameras