A frenzied take on the adrenaline-surged and hectic lead up to the first ever episode of the famed show, "Saturday Night" is a mad rush from start to finish. Premiering on October 11, 1975 from New York City, "Saturday Night" was a comedy/musical show that introduced an irreverent style of humor and a group of young comics who would change Comedy forever. John Belushi, Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy, Chris Farley, Adam Sandler, and Jimmy Fallon are among the stars who got their first big break at the institution. "Saturday Night" the movie gives a cocaine rush of an idea why.
With a camera on non-stop uppers and a cast fleeting by so quickly one feels as if one is in a bullet train, the movie begs for some Valium. The film recreates the highs and lows not to mention the tension on opening night especially if most of those involved are stoned, the show creator doesn't even know what the show's about, key members quit, and the budding star doesn't want to sign a contract, much more show up. Of course, being a hive of wisecracking smartasses the witty banter and repartee shoot back and forth like flies after a battle. Amid the barely-restrained turmoil one sees and feels the passion those involved felt at the creation of something they knew was special.
Unfortunately a number of snags trip what should have been a fun and delightful time in television history. Too much of the film focuses on show creator Lorne Michaels and he just isn't that interesting here. The movie should have highlighted the memorable cast but instead they're evenly relegated to second-lead and quite poorly at that: Belushi is portrayed as some self-centered weirdo lacking his real-life charm; Aykroyd is some muted dork who thinks he's Casanova; Garrett Morris is pc'd up to be more flashy while Chevy Chase is made to be more nicer than he really was. It's the old-school extras here who truly shine and add the soul to the show like a no nonsense Willem Dafoe as network executive David Tebet and J. K. Simmons as a grandstanding and wittily-whipping Milton Berle. For all the hubbub the film is pretty tedious and all in all fails to truly convey what the fuss was all about.
A fine and watchable tribute to a groundbreaking show and a cast of stars like no other since, "Saturday Night" with its vintage air and wacky irreverence hearken back to a time when electricity was in the air and men had souls. As a glimpse, a time travel away from the shallowness and negativity of these isolation-inducing times one couldn't find a better antidote.
With a camera on non-stop uppers and a cast fleeting by so quickly one feels as if one is in a bullet train, the movie begs for some Valium. The film recreates the highs and lows not to mention the tension on opening night especially if most of those involved are stoned, the show creator doesn't even know what the show's about, key members quit, and the budding star doesn't want to sign a contract, much more show up. Of course, being a hive of wisecracking smartasses the witty banter and repartee shoot back and forth like flies after a battle. Amid the barely-restrained turmoil one sees and feels the passion those involved felt at the creation of something they knew was special.
Unfortunately a number of snags trip what should have been a fun and delightful time in television history. Too much of the film focuses on show creator Lorne Michaels and he just isn't that interesting here. The movie should have highlighted the memorable cast but instead they're evenly relegated to second-lead and quite poorly at that: Belushi is portrayed as some self-centered weirdo lacking his real-life charm; Aykroyd is some muted dork who thinks he's Casanova; Garrett Morris is pc'd up to be more flashy while Chevy Chase is made to be more nicer than he really was. It's the old-school extras here who truly shine and add the soul to the show like a no nonsense Willem Dafoe as network executive David Tebet and J. K. Simmons as a grandstanding and wittily-whipping Milton Berle. For all the hubbub the film is pretty tedious and all in all fails to truly convey what the fuss was all about.
A fine and watchable tribute to a groundbreaking show and a cast of stars like no other since, "Saturday Night" with its vintage air and wacky irreverence hearken back to a time when electricity was in the air and men had souls. As a glimpse, a time travel away from the shallowness and negativity of these isolation-inducing times one couldn't find a better antidote.