SATURDAY NIGHT Review: TIFF 2024

Saturday Night was one of the biggest premieres of the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival. Directed by Jason Reitman, the film chronicles the 90 minutes just before the debut of the greatest experimental television show of all time, Saturday Night Live! While the film fulfills this premise, broader parts of the plot may be lost to viewers who do not have a deep knowledge of the real live events. Read my Saturday night review straight from TIFF 2024.

Please note that while this Saturday Night review does not contain spoilers, the events are based on a true story, so we use the word “spoilers” quite lightly here.

Great retelling of a true story

Jason Reitman’s “Saturday Night” captures the chaos and madness of the night the series premiered. Saturday Night Live was one of the first live sketch comedy shows in history. It is now one of the longest-running television shows of all time, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. While we wait for Saturday Night, we’ll take a look at how chaotic the situation was until the first minute of the broadcast. This outrageously crazy true story traces the beginning of a television phenomenon that launched the careers of some of the biggest comedians in the industry.

In the film itself, various talented young actors play true comedy icons who made their debut on SNL. The film features characters based on real-life SNL members such as Dan Akroyd, Chevy Chase, John Belushi, Jim Henson, Andy Kaufman, George Carlin and more. The telling of that first night balances the energy of chaotic excitement with a time-lapse framing device that really sets the story in motion. This tone drops significantly whenever the characters are away from the NBC studios where most of the story takes place. But in the studio there is an extravaganza of subplots, character arcs and chaos that will be born of genius. For everyone involved.

There are some standout actors on Saturday Night Review

Featuring one of the greatest casts to ever grace the TIFF red carpet, the talent of “Saturday Night” is unparalleled. Chevy Chase, playing the biggest star of the era, was the groundbreaking Cory Michael Smith. Smith perfectly captures Chase’s arrogance at the time and brings to life the legendary stories we’ve all heard about his time on the show. Dylan O’Brien from The Mazerunner series embodies Dan Akroyd so perfectly it’s amazing. Then there’s Matt Wood, who looked like the embodiment of the late great John Belushi. It’s a shame there wasn’t more of O’Brien and Smith, but they dominated the scene whenever they were on screen.

But the biggest surprise has to be Gabriel LaBelle as young Lorne Michaels, the extraordinary producer who created SNL and was the leader of this wild circus. LaBelle was last at TIFF with Steven Spielberg’s “Fabelmen.” But it’s Saturday night that really cements him as an emerging player to keep an eye on. LaBelle’s Lorne is in many ways the main character among all these outrageous characters; the one with a more thoughtful line and plot than any other. This is really his story, and the main story takes place from his perspective.

LaBelle is reserved when necessary, assertive when required, and nervous and gentle at other times. It’s a show that has to juggle a lot of different emotions, like a character trying to reconcile actors, writers and executives to create the first-ever live comedy show that he can’t even describe.

Who is Saturday night really for?

The biggest criticism of Saturday Night, which sort of affects its overall effect, is that it feels safe and too closely related to baseball. The film moves very quickly and freely, with any backdrop or depiction of these characters or the monumental TV feat we witness. The film’s format doesn’t allow us to live with any character for very long beyond a brief, emotionally charged line of dialogue or an amazing one-liner. And while this is to be expected in a film with such a huge cast, it has no impact if you don’t know who these characters are. Or even more so than Saturday Night Live! Is.

The stakes, plot, settings and characters would be unfamiliar to anyone who watched Saturday Night without prior knowledge of SNL. The letter does not provide any information about the proceedings beyond what is already in the room. Casual viewers don’t recognize the genius of George Carlin when he appears on screen to have a hilarious exchange with whoever is on screen with him. Even the importance of certain moments or the evolution of things that have become SNL trademarks will be lost on viewers who don’t follow the live variety show.

Even though the movie isn’t available to non-SNL viewers, “Saturday Night” is still great fun despite all of the story’s antics. While the larger significance of this story and its depictions won’t have as much of an impact on casual viewers, fans will be delighted to see their favorite comedians reenact one of the most important moments in pop culture history.

“Saturday Night” premiered at TIFF 2024.

What do you think of Jason Reitman’s Saturday Night? Let me know in the comments below or follow me on X (formerly Twitter) at @theshahshahid.