“Saturday Night” Movie Review

Live from the College 9 Theatre, it's "Saturday Night." Ever wondered where a show as long-standing as Saturday Night Live got its start? “Saturday Night” looks to answer just that.

“Saturday Night” is a stylized yet loosely historically accurate recounting of the night before Saturday Night Live premiered on Oct. 11, 1975.

The audience is able to observe the fast-paced, often overwhelming and rarely according-to-plan nature of live show business as the cast and production crew work around the clock to get the show out the door on time.

The structure of the movie follows the cast and executives in a real-time sequence as they run final rehearsals, finish up scheduling and of course get in a final line of cocaine.

Although the movie spends a lot of its time focused on the show's creator, Lorne Michaels, (played by Gabriel LaBelle), a lot of time is spent spread out amongst the crew, highlighting the roles of those involved at all levels.

This is a storytelling method other movies of this nature often fail or refuse to do, instead choosing to focus on only a few characters.

In jumping around executive lounges, writer rooms and setpieces a greater tapestry of a story can be woven while matching the high-anxiety tonality of show-biz.

The character of Chevy Chase, (played by Cory Michael Smith), for instance, all but steals the show with his charisma and effortless humor.

No less valuable is the time spent with the live musicians and their storylines, or the feeling of helplessness an intern feels on their first day.

Or the conflicting nature of personal and work relationships, particularly on the corporate level, which becomes a prevalent theme and one of the major roadblocks the crew faces in simply getting the show to air.

Willem Dafoe plays real-life NBC Vice President of Talent Relations Dave Tebet, who at first is betting on Saturday Night to be a failure.

The show's failing would have deterred the network from investing in Avant-garde projects and they instead would have embraced his risk-averse philosophy of airing reruns and ignoring the late-night television demographic.

Dafoe oozes sleaze through this character, and it is spectacular to watch.

Had it not been for his character's change of heart upon seeing the hard work put into getting the show together, the world may have gone without one of the most successful and culturally relevant shows of all time.

“Saturday Night” doesn't move the needle on filmmaking standards, but it doesn't have to. It’s a fun watch with a reasonable runtime and will be enjoyable to view for casual and diehard fans of SNL or anyone looking for a few good laughs.

Rating: 4/5

Trip Tagle is a second-year majoring in digital and print journalism. To contact them, please email tnt5403@psu.edu.