By Though Venice is sucking up all the festival attention, the Telluride Film Festival managed to divert some of it away last night with the premiere of Jason Reitman’s “Saturday Night”.
Reitman and even Bill Murray were on hand for the screening which had a strong reception at the festival. The film, shot in handheld 16mm, follows the hectic 90 minutes before the live broadcast of the very first episode on October 11th 1975.
The film is shot with a cinema verité style as cast and crew race to get ready for air – egos, lunacy and self-doubt are flying all over the place as producer Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LaBelle) races to get things functional enough to get on the air.
As Vulture has pointed out, the film is somewhat mythmaking as some events have been altered timeline wise, some altered or made up, in order to achieve “maximum drama and chaos”.
The results though are being praised, though there’s some that aren’t so onboard as well. Here’s a sampling of reviews:
“One of Jason Reitman’s best films! Perfectly captures the chaotic energy, camaraderie & backstage shenanigans of putting together the first SNL in real-time. Crisp editing, long takes, a witty script with big laughs and a talented, hilarious ensemble who are having a ton of fun through the noise & uncertainty.” – Matt Neglia, Letterboxd
“Miraculously, Reitman and casting director John Papsidera pull it off, such that everyone reflects the singular energy of their characters. You might not cast them in the biopic of any one individual, but as an ensemble, they’re terrific.” – Peter DeBruge, Variety
“Jason Reitman and his cast generate significant tension over the fate of this program. That may not be as funny as you’d expect, but it sure is thrilling.” – Greg Ellwood, The Playlist
“Sometimes, it feels like a cop-out to say a movie is just “fun” and nothing more, but that is precisely the case here. “Saturday Night” a funny and well-acted piece of entertainment, best enjoyed on a Saturday night.” – Will Mavity, Next Best Picture
“There’s enough genuinely crazy lore around Saturday Night Live’s first episode that it probably didn’t need all this extra semi-fictional material….Saturday Night might not be factually accurate, but it feels spiritually true” – Bilge Eberi, Vulture
“We go into the movie with high expectations, but only some of them are realized. The cast works hard and brings off some antic moments, but too many of the riffs fall flat.” – Stephen Farber, THR
“Forget in-jokes or fan service, this is a movie so long on cos-play (much of it brilliant) and short on character development (none of it interesting) that it requires a casual knowledge of the show’s lore to understand, let alone to enjoy.” – David Ehrlich, Indiewire
“Saturday Night Live has long swooned over its own self-mythology, and Saturday Night is happy to add to that backpatting as the show’s golden anniversary approaches… At least the second-hand high Reitman hotboxes you with is extremely potent.” – David Fear, Rolling Stone
“Saturday Night” premieres in cinemas on October 11th.
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