While watching “Saturday Night” the one thought that kept entering my mind is what a miracle “Saturday Night Live” (SNL) is. 

The new movie depicts the chaotic 90 minutes before the first ever episode of SNL went on the air in 1975. 

In the film, we follow Lorne Michaels, the producer and creator of SNL, played by Gabriel LaBelle, as he struggles to bring his vision for the show to life in a race against the clock before the cameras roll. 

There are many things going wrong. A combination of drugs, egos, anxieties, budget restraints and skeptical studio executives all serve as roadblocks and logical reasons to explain why the show should not work. 

But Michaels does not care about the odds. 

He sees the show as a revolution for comedy and pop culture; a T.V. show made by the generation who grew up watching television. A groundbreaking blend of sketch comedy and music that is unlike anything ever seen on network T.V. before. 

The cast is superb, with Dylan O’Brien and Cory Michael Smith being particular standouts for their portrayals of Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase respectively. 

The costumes are spot on and the entire film feels plucked directly out of 1975. 

The film is intense and anxiety inducing, feeling more like a thriller than a comedy-drama. 

The stakes are low for television standards. The NBC studio executives do not believe much in the show and are really using it as leverage for contract negotiations with Johnny Carson and his late night show. 

If the show is not ready for air, they can simply rerun a past episode of “The Tonight Show” and try again next week. But failure is not an option. 

The film is a story of the perseverance and ambition of a group of young creatives who should have failed spectacularly but instead created a titan of pop-culture whose cultural impact is still felt massively today. 

See this film if you can, you will not be disappointed. 

Official Score: 10/10

Categories: Arts & Entertainment