de facto film reviews 3 stars

Jason Reitman is a skilled director, and he may have finally found his flair in Saturday Night. That might seem like a surprising statement about the director who has made such highly acclaim films as Juno, Up in the Air, Thank You for Smoking, a Ghostbusters movie, a couple of underrated character studies starring Charlize Theron (Young Adult, Tully), and, since then, a string of many forgotten duds like Labor Day, Men, Women, and Children, and The Front Runner, to name his complete filmography.

But, like his father, Ivan Reitman, Jason understands how essential and challenging comedy can be in the world of creativity. How laughter comes from a lot of creative suffering and sacrifice. A filmmaker like Jason Reitman was raised by his father, who made a career of studio comedies featuring comedic actors who all gained notoriety on SNL. A filmmaker like Reitman is suitable to explore these struggles. For him, these are big shoes to fill, and he wants to play the details right of what happened in the chaotic 90 minutes leading up to the live debut of now the beloved live sketch comedy show.

Official Trailer 2

The film examines what is at stake; it explores young SNL creator Lorne Michaels (Gabriel Labelle). A young writer of sketch TV shows, Lorne is given the opportunity to make his own sketch show called Saturday Night, where he also produces it, and clashes with executive producer Dick Ebersol (Cooper Hoffman) and has to persuade NBC network executive David Tebet (Willem Dafoe) that show should go live as repeat shows Johnny Carson is just a click bottom away. Also, Michael’s spouse, co-writer, and collaborator Rosie Shuster (Rachel Sennott) encourages Lorne along the backstage mayhem, and she holds a lot of creative pull as well.

Michael’s cast and crew are also passionate about the show, but many hold their own creative reservations and are at odds with the network about some of the writing, wardrobe, and other forms of network censorship that limit what they can discuss and joke about. The familiar comedians of the original 7 include Chevy Chase (Cory Michael Smith), Dan Aykroyd (Dylan O’Brien), Laraine Newman (Eimy Farin), Garrett Morris (Lamorne Morri), Gilda Rander (Ella Hunt), Gilda Radner (Ella Hunt), and John Belushi (Matt Wood). Other cast members include George Carlin (Matthew Rys), and Nicholas Braun plays dual roles as Andy Kaufman, who is always in character, and Jim Henson, who is very paranoid about fellow cast and crew members disrespecting his Muppets. J.K. Simmons is also brilliant as “Mr. Television” Milton Berle, an egotistical actor who has a rather amusing and ultimately disturbing exchange with Chevy Chase where they try to up each other up with their comedic skills and cultural relevance.

Review: 'Saturday Night' is thinly sketched but satisfying | The Seattle Times

Each actor in this ensemble is superb, especially Sennott, who brings charisma and spirit to the dizzying material that is needed. Corey Michael Smith (May December) also delivers a superb performance has Chevy Chase and the appearance is near identical.  Reitman stages a lot of the drama like Birdman, though it’s never as derivative as I was worried it was going to be. Instead of relying on the one-continuous take gimmick (which does have a few sequences), he allows for some impressive blocking with the actors that doesn’t draw attention to itself. If anything, it still carries on the chaotic energy of the film. It’s a backstage comedy-drama and frequent Reitman director of photography-Eric Steelberg goes through the backstage hallways, dressing rooms, and offices, and Lorne steps outside during a few scenes to track down John Belushi and into a nighttime comedy club to scout a new co-writer to come up with some snappy one-liners for the comedians.

The film feels vivid, and Reitman holds quite a rhythm for the maelstrom. It captures the creative uncertainty, explores the insanity, and yet you feel relieved knowing the outcome. Jason Reitman certainly brings care and devotion to the material and one can sense the glowing energy that the cast and crew delivered to the material. Saturday Night also explores familiar themes of collaboration, artistic vision, and the opportunities that could arise if major networks took more chances. It also shows the odds that are stacked against film crews, as Murphy’s Law is always in motion. In this movie, as well as many sets, the show must go on, and once it goes into motion is when the creative magic begins. Saturday Night reassures this.

SATURDAY NIGHT opens in theaters on Friday, October 11th.