Jason Reitman has had quite a successful career commercially. Most of his movies have garnered positive reception from the public and made significant profits at the box office. Sure, his success does not match the one of his father, Ivan Reitman (director of the “Ghostbusters” films and “Twins,” the oddball comedy starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny Devito), who couldn’t miss a beat back in his heyday. However, Jason has found his path for commercial appeal outside of what his father did, except for his latest works as a director for “Ghostbusters: Afterlife” and screenwriter for its sequel, “Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.” (Both lacking blockbusters that mostly appealed to the franchise’s die-hard fans).
Jason Reitman’s Commercial Success Does Not Translate in Execution
Even then, that lets you know how he has managed to remain a dependable name for projects from big studios, no matter the size of the film or its budget. The issue lies in his execution and directorial vision, which, in my opinion, is relatively lackluster for various reasons. I don’t find him a voice with anything interesting to say about the topics or themes he covers in his movies, whether it is teenage pregnancy in “Juno” or the tobacco industry in “Thank You For Smoking.” Jason Reitman shows everything at face value, built for regular audiences to engage more with the project. It is more palatable for them and more accessible to recommend, hence setting the chain of word-of-mouth reactions.
Reitman has been blessed with quippy screenplays by Diablo Cody and Sheldon Turner–or working on adaptations of already established books–to uplift his projects from vanilla to something with a bit of substance, albeit slight in their character definitions and overall thematic dissections. No matter how invested he seems in a project, you never see a spark of ingenuity or urgency from Reitman in the stories he wants to tell. His latest project, “Saturday Night,” on paper, seems to be his most promising in a long while, although I still am skeptical about his offerings as a director. It is a film about the preparation of the first show that aired on the famous “Saturday Night Live”.
We see the behind-the-scenes chaos and production struggles that Lorne Michales (in the film played by Gabriel LaBelle, known for his role as a Steven Spielberg surrogate in “The Fabelmans”) went through to pull off this miracle. If not for that troubling night, we might have never gotten one of the most recognized and influential television shows ever. They might not have known what they had in their hands then. But it is a goldmine that continues to evolve, with one strong cast passing the baton to the other. I was a big fan of “SNL” for many years.
Reitman’s Talents Level My Excitement for a Film About ‘SNL’
Although I don’t watch it as I used to or scroll on YouTube to see the individual sketch clips, I still hold the show very close to me. It brought me tons of joy when I felt down and made me howl like a hyena more than a hundred times. My favorite era was the one where Bill Hader, Tina Fey, Fred Armisen, and Seth Myers–just a few of the talented bunch who were part of this crew–were helming the boat, giving us one hilarious moment after the other Stefon’s late-night recommendations. The Laser Cats videos. Anything that Armisen did because of his way of expression and facials was slapstick-like. I could continue talking about my love for the late 2000s and early 2010s era with that bunch.
Point in case, I was excited about a film showing how “SNL” was constructed from the side of the preparations. However, it was leveled by my dislike of Jason Reitman as a director. And, rather unfortunately, “Saturday Night” falls flat on its hectic and quippy face, feeling like a trite skit of its own with the cast playing dress-up while the crew reminisces about the “good old days” of “SNL.” Jokes upon mediocre jokes; a time-clock thriller element paves the way for uncontrollable chaos. Yet, none of it feels witty or inspirational as the depicted people did back then in the show’s original incarnation. Once again, Reitman adds his vanilla flavoring to a project that requires hot sauce and spice.
“Saturday Night” is set on October 11th, 1975, with ninety minutes until showtime at 11:30 PM. The show “Saturday Night Live” will soon air. Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LaBelle) is excited for it to hit the masses. But more than a handful of issues are plaguing this particular night, which might cause the show to not air or fall on its face. His distanced wife, Rosie (Rachel Sennott), wants to discuss their relationship and whether or not she is considered a partner or just another screenwriter. (This is one of the film’s two most interesting narrative strands. However, they set it aside and ignore it completely.) Producer and showrunner David Tebet (Willem Dafoe, who looks more like Pasolini than Tebet) wants to pull the plug and take the cast and crew out of their misery.
Honoring the Past and Future of ‘SNL’ Through Dissaray
The cast is scattered and unsure which sketches will make it to the show. The writers feel both anxious and thrilled as they sit stoned. Everything’s coming together like a ticking time bomb, its effect heightened by Jon Batiste’s jazzy score, reminding me of Antonio Sánchez’s score for “Birdman.” Lorne wants the whole ordeal to work out, as this is a lifetime opportunity–they are the underdogs who want to prove the studio heads wrong. It is their show or Johnny Carson reruns, which the studio wants to do. Lorne and company were given this small yet stagnant chance, but in reality, the producers want them to fail so Carson can provide them with more viewers and cash. The odds are against them, and with each minute passing, a situation that demoralizes them happens.
Jason Reitman and cinematographer Eric Steelberg set up this hectic night in 1975 with tons of disarray and clamoring in the surroundings. They want to show how messy and disorganized the preparation for the television-changing premiere of “SNL” was, even if it means exaggerating every single scenario, character, and set. There are few reports about what exactly happened that night. We are unsure if what Reitman does here is a 100% “accurate” story. But, at the very least, the “Juno” director provides some easter eggs and cameos of “SNL’s” future members and sketches as a token of appreciation–like the John Belushi bumblebee sketch and Andy Kaufman’s set that immortalized him in comedy. I am not fond of cheap references in movies. However, I think that “Saturday Night” does not earn them. Thematically, it fits alongside the madhouse sensation the film garners.
They could be many of the multiple ideas or concepts that Lorne and the writers might have had for opening night but were left out and reused later. In a way, their inclusion in the film feels like they are honoring the events that transpired after this harsh night because it paved the way for a legendary comedic repertoire both on and off the cast. All of them are “SNL” alumni. But they transcended to stardom because of that one night that might have sunken their careers entirely if it had gone haywire. While I appreciate the aforementioned references and some performances, like Ella Hunt as Gilda Radner or Lamorne Morris as Garrett Morris, many faults with “Saturday Night” ruin the slight fun it was building up in the beginning.
The Screenplay Personifies the Comedic Personas Instead of their Humanity
First and foremost, the screenplay by Reitman and Gil Kenan is very weak. The lines they wrote for the actors personifying better comedic actors before them feel overly calculated and snappy. You don’t feel immersed in the chaos. What would Chevy Chase say in this scenario? How would John Belushi react to his comment? This is how Kenan and Reitman construct the screenplay. But in the most overly comedic way possible. Reitman and Kenan immerse themselves in their “SNL” fantasies, glamorizing the OGs. They never tap into their humanity or get inside their heads. Like most of Reitman’s characters, it is all at face value. It is prompted by commerciality rather than expressionism or being interested in their mentalities during this make-or-break situation.
That is the crucial element of success that these types of films must contain. And that is to make the audience tense and to make the characters conjure their anxieties through their surroundings. This comedy could have been used as a coping mechanism for their struggles. What would happen to them if this show did not air or have the necessary views? Instead, Reitman uses it as an audience-seller. It does not do the characters or the actual people being portrayed any favors. The George Clooney type of comedy is used to personify the talents of successful and unique comedic actors. And that feels like a cheap shot to the viewer, considering how influential “SNL” was and forever will be.
The second huge issue with “Saturday Night” is the cast, even though they occasionally cause me to chuckle. If I did not buy the lines, I, even worse, didn’t buy the actors saying them. Many people have said they look too young to play their respective comedians. And I agree with that statement. It feels as if they were doing cosplay rather than filming a movie. Cinema is, in a way, playing dress-up–wearing weird clothes, doing crazy accents, and being a bit silly. But it all feels like child’s play rather than actual good performances. In the few moments where “Saturday Night” has some spark, you see Ella Hunt doing Gilda Radner, or at least the comedian persona of her.
Interesting Narrative Strands Ditched to Create More Chaos
I love Radner as a comic. Hunt does her best to show her human side rather than sticking to the caricature she plays in her sketches, which Reitman wants out of her. And that is another problem that hinders the overall experience of the film. Every actor is provided overly thought-out lines that replicate the comedians’ acts rather than the person they are. The only exception is Lamorne Morris as Garett Morris. Morris, the actor Lamorne plays, questions his identity on the show. Why am I hired?, Morris continues to prompt the cast and crew. Is he there for a reason? His talents are not being utilized. And Morris feels like a lost signer in a room of comics.
Reitman and Kenan delved into this narrative strand, and the viewer is interested in seeing this explored. But it is, once again, ditched until the very last moment, where he is given a moment to shine. It is already too late. The scene feels out of place and without heft. Some hints explore the cast’s professional and romantic psyches and connections. Yet, nothing happens, and it feels inconsequential. So, not even in their attempts can you sense an inch of humanism. The heightened tone comes forth, and the rest is put aside for laughs, which aren’t much anyway. And let us not get into how disrespectful Reitman treats the likes of Jim Henson and Andy Kaufman, both played by Nicholas Bran.
The rest behave as players in a spoof about “SNL.” This creates unintentional meta-web entertainment for the cast and crew while annoying viewers. The reason this happens is because of how Reitman and Kenan frame the whole ordeal. It is a sketch of sketch about the beginnings of a sketch show. The characters are seen through their comedic personas rather than their humanity. Everything is escalated to make it more cinematic and straightforward (or entertaining) for audiences. Every narrative thread is resolved in seconds, making this world even more improbable. The phrase “children’s television workshop’ was dropped in the film, which feels exactly like that. (How funny–maybe the funniest joke in the movie–that the film perfectly describes what it is without noticing.)
What Do Jason Reitman and Gil Kenan Have to Say About ‘SNL’ and its First Cast?
“Saturday Night” reminisces the past that cemented the vast legacy of “SNL,” the rich history of the first batch of comics that revolutionized the game. Chase, Radner, Morris, Curtin, Belushi, Newman… these were the voices of a generation. They waved the flag for the creativity and independence of television comedy. But apart from the references to future sketches or cameos of actors involved later on, there’s nothing about honoring the past or highlighting their importance. Which begs the question: What do Kenan and Reitman have to say about them? Or, better yet, why do they think they are so important? Why is “SNL” important? Each of us fans has many different answers to that question. But the director of “Saturday Night” has nothing to say about the show. It is genuinely disappointing, once again, to leave everything at face value and condense it to their quips and comic linings.
Other questions arise because of that need for more exploration. Why should we bother watching the film if we could watch or read about what happened? There might be few records about what happened that night in 1975. But they are more informative and personal than whatever Reitman wants to do with this piece of filmmaking. I may sound like a scratched record at this point. Still, Alex Ross Perry has stated that for his film “Pavements,” he wanted to show what the lousy Pavement means to him–their essence, importance, connection to the fans, and the influence they silently made that, to this day, remains causing shifts–by creating a series of unique inventions (a fake biopic, museum, a high-school stage musical, and live performances) that depict everything and anything Pavement.
Ross Perry wanted to do it that way because he loved the band. He thinks honoring them through lazy documentaries and trite biopics would not capture what makes them essential. The old mold that services awards bodies is the worst way of showing viewers why you should care about this figure and what it means for those who admire or listen to it. And Reitman concocts a project in that vein of vacuous, lazy depictions of influential figures. “Saturday Night” may have some occasional sparks and charm. But, in the grand scheme of things, the film fails to live up to its promise, or the promise of iconic “SNL.” Which is a shame, given what the show meant to so many.
“Saturday Night” hit theaters across the U.S. on October 11th, 2024.
