Review: The film shows what might have happened 90 minutes before a LIVE show. Saturday Night is almost exuberant, gluing you to the screen as it goes from a show doomed to fail to something so much more, but there are flaws. It provides drama and a sense of disarray that can’t even be grasped by not seeing the full film. Matthew Rhys, playing George Carlin, sends out a wave of f-bombs at the cast as he walks down the stairs as if he’s a majestic eagle, but he does it in a way only Carlin would. The show continues as the film’s last words are spoken by Chevy Chase, played by Cory Michael Smith. “Live from New York, it’s Saturday night!” as the crowd and cast claps in thunderous applause. The way the Chevy Chase character was written into the script could have had more depth and opportunities to speak. The film doesn’t clearly show the abuse that the cast had at the hands of Chase and only shows a bit of it in a speech about diverse groups in a room full of NBC execs and a dressing room fight, but not the well-known fight that would happen between Chevy and Bill Murray a few seasons later. While all of this is happening, John Belushi, played by Matt Wood, confronts corporate stupidity from having to wear a bee costume live for a skit to storming off set after an NBC exec recommends adding a Polaroid camera for product placement purposes. The film succeeds in portraying the irony and drama but ultimately fails in keeping the film from getting any other reactions from the execs in the film as they seem to be huddled in their little corner with whispers other than the NBC president, played by Willem Defoe, who threatens Michael with reruns of the Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson if the show fails but in the end, lets the show go on as planned and gives the order for the show to go live. I don’t want to use “daringness.” it has some of that but not enough to make it “known.” or “out there.” there had been “live shows.” before SNL but none of them is as “well known.” as SNL, and it is sad how 2 people in the TV show John Belushi and Andy Kaufman played by Nicholas Braun would be dead in just a few years. 

Conclusion: Saturday Night tells a simple story. It is a story about daringness, resentment, anger, and frustration all packed into one film about a show that would go on to influence most of the ’90s. At the same time, it is a time capsule to an era of mid-70s pop culture when disco spandex and hair were all the rage.

Rating: 7.2/10