Saturday Night, a behind-the-scenes story of the 90-minute build-up to the very first episode of Saturday Night Live (then called Saturday Night) opens with a quote from the show's creator and the main character of the film, Lorne Michaels.
"The show doesn't go on because it's ready; it goes on because it's 11.30."
It's important to remember because it's the philosophy of one of the longest-running TV shows in American history, currently in its 50th season. The comedy sketch show is largely broadcast live and sometimes that's painfully obvious. It has sketches that fall flat, lines are flubbed, sets fall down, and performers get the giggles - but all is forgiven because when it works, it's gold. And even when it doesn't work, it's still pretty entertaining and highlights the vulnerable nature of live TV. If you have only experienced SNL through isolated sketches online, do yourself a favour and try watching the full show from start to finish to get a sense of that energy… and, sometimes, failure.
The opening quote rings through your head as we see Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LaBelle) wrangle cast members and attempt to schmooze executives while fighting off pleas to cancel tonight's broadcast and try again next week, "when we're ready". All Lorne knows is that he has assembled some very talented people - future movie stars like Chevy Chase (Cory Michael Smith) and Dan Ackroyd (Dylan O'Brien) as well as performers who will go on to attain legendary status in comedy, John Belushi (Matt Wood), Gilda Radner (Ella Hunt), and Andy Kaufman (Nicholas Braun). Lorne is running on pure instinct. He has faith that the American viewing public who'd normally watch a rerun of Johnny Carson's Tonight Show are going to love Saturday Night - and we're going live at 11.30 tonight, whether we're ready or not.
The threat of pressing play on Carson rather than going live to the now-famous Studio 8H looms over proceedings as people work out jokes, air grievances, and literally finish building the set. The tension is mounting, people are talking and thinking fast. Aaron Sorkin is not involved in the film, but a viewer who is a fan of his work can't help but think of The West Wing, The Newsroom, and, of course, his SNL-inspired Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip as the large cast bounce off each other and "walk and talk" their way around this complex set.
It's packed with bubbling energy, thanks to director Jason Reitman's talent for comedic pace, with fun performances that nail the look, mannerisms, and voices of their real-life counterparts. Some people turn their noses up when a performance overlaps with an impression. But if someone is playing Billy Crystal in your film, it's a lot more satisfying if the audience knows instantly who they are. As is the case here. Saying that, the stand-out performance is one that doesn't feel remotely like an impression, Gabriel LaBelle's Lorne Michaels is instantly likeable and endearing as the very young showrunner with a vision he struggles to articulate. As a viewer, you instantly want him to win his many battles tonight.
One of the few flaws may be that there are moments that may be isolating for an audience unfamiliar with the SNL legacy or what happened to this ragtag bunch of people next. When Willem Dafoe's studio exec tells a young Chevy Chase he could replace Johnny Carson someday, it's a moment designed to tickle those who know of the disastrous results when Chevy did get eventually his own late-night talk show. Despite that, there's still a lot here for the uninitiated.
It's a loving and entertaining tribute to an American TV institution; you get a sense of that history and how that mindset of the opening quote is still there in SNL today. Jokes and sets are still being created up to the last possible minute.
It's rumoured that Lorne still has that same 1975 episode of The Tonight Show on standby, waiting and ready. Like that's ever been important.
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