In his latest film Saturday Night, director Jason Reitman reminds us why we should all want to stay in on the weekends. Re-tracing the chaotic hour and a half before the live airing of NBC’s inaugural episode of SNL, Saturday Night is a full-throttle, non-stop whiplash of hilarity and hijinks. Be prepared to laugh so hard it hurts as you relive one of TV’s most historic and hectic nights.

The Countdown to a Riotous Revolution

Nearly 50 years ago, a young group of misfit comedians and writers changed the trajectory of television forever. Saturday Night begins at 10:00 pm, when Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LaBelle) arrives at 30 Rockefeller Center for the final dress rehearsal of his new show. Immediately, chaos envelops him. There’s a llama in the loading bay, John Belushi still hasn’t signed his contract, the stagehands are stoned, scripts are being neutered by the NBC compliance officer, and the lighting director just quit. To put it mildly, it’s a disaster.

Watch the Saturday Night trailer here.

To top it off, the cast is out of control. The combined untamed energy of Chevy Chase (Cory Michael Smith), Dan Aykroyd (Dylan O’Brien), Gilda Radner (Ella Hunt), Jane Curtin (Kim Matula), Laraine Newman (Emily Fairn), Garrett Morris (Lamorne Morris) and John Belushi (Matt Wood) is enough to make Lorne combust with anxiety. But there is not enough time to panic. With NBC executive David Tebet (Willem Dafoe) expecting perfection and rival funnyman Johnny Carson (voiced by Jeff Witzke) expecting failure, Lorne Michaels can only do one thing: trust his instincts. And right now, his instincts are telling him that this ragtag troupe of performers will somehow be able to pull it all together just before the clock strikes 11:30 pm.

Pitch Perfect Casting Brings This Biopic to Life

An accurate recounting of true events, Saturday Night is a phenomenal showcase of cinematic symbiosis firing on all cylinders. This historical biopic is not a deep dive into any particular character, not even creator and showrunner Lorne Michaels. Saturday Night is a true ensemble comedy that runs like a well-oiled, coked-up machine. Sure, the hyperbolic moments are exaggerated, but then again, so was the real-time activity taking place in Studio 8H of 30 Rock.

The film’s biggest selling point is, without a doubt, the cast. When taking notes during the screening, there were multiple points when I hurriedly jotted down “SPOT ON” when commenting on Gilda’s hairstyle, Belushi’s eyebrows, and Chevy’s tonal inflection. How casting director John Papsidera found these up-and-coming actors who can fully (and I mean fully) embody these comedy legends is nothing short of a perfect match. In addition to the main SNL cast, notable standouts include Nicholas Braun’s portrayal of both Andy Kaufman and Jim Henson, Rachel Sennott as Rosie Shuster, and Nicholas Podany as Billy Crystal.

Set to an electrifyingly uptempo and jazzy score by Jon Batiste, who also has a cameo role as the show’s first musical guest Billy Preston, the soundtrack is a key component to Saturday Night‘s identity. It’s no surprise that the score is heavily influenced by the SNL stage band. The music’s bright saxophone and larger-than-life percussion act as the film’s heartbeat throughout. The artisanship in front of and behind the camera is on full display here. The incredible casting and the zingy one-liners are outstanding achievements that make this film an unmissable watch.

Takeaway

“What kind of name is Saturday Night?” the puzzled NBC executive asks Lorne Michaels, noting the seemingly bland choice for the series title. However, director Jason Reitman is more keen on answering a different question: What kind of feeling is Saturday Night? Saturday Night is an homage to the spirit of creating art for art’s sake and a testament to the freedom of expression. Despite the SNL we know today feeling lightyears away from the scrappy, turbulent, and drug-riddled frenzy it originated as, it continues to remain a place for the misfits to call home. And as an SNL fan let me tell you, there’s no place like home.