Jeri Jacquin
Coming to Bluray, DVD and currently on Digital from director Jason Reitman and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is the story of the beginnings of SATURDAY NIGHT.
It is October 11th, 1975 and Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LaBelle) is attempting to pull off something revolutionary for television in the NBC building. Bringing together young comedians and writers to pull of a comedy show is not as easy as it may sound. Ninety minutes before the show goes live, Michaels is trying to coral his players consisting of Chevy Chase (Cory Michael Smith), Gilda Radner (Ella Hunt), Dan Aykroyd (Dylan O’Brien), Laraine Newman (Emily Fairn), Garrett Morris (Lamorne Morris), Jane Curtin (Kim Matula) and John Belushi (Matt Wood).
When not dealing with their antics, he is wrangling the talent of Andy Kaufman (Nicholas Braun), Billy Preston (Jon Batiste), Jim Henson (Nicholas Braun), and George Carlin (Matthew Rhys). Keeping him moving forward is wife Rosie (Rachel Sennott) and Dick Ebersol (Cooper Hoffman) and the later is up against David Tebet (Willem Dafoe).
Fighting the clock, Michaels deals with Belushi and his dramatics, Morris who brings up his existential problem of “why am I here?”, Jim Henson and puppet issues, writers who think going up against the censor is a sport, Carlin who has his own opinion of what Michaels is trying to do, Milton Berle (J.K. Simmons) taking on the youngsters, and Johnny Carson having his own input.
Michaels learns that the jokes are on him when Ebersol comes clean with what NBC really had planned for the show. Having a meltdown, he finds a second wind of belief in what they are all trying to accomplish with the show and because of that, every Saturday after that, the world waits to hear LIVE FROM NEW YORK! IT’S SATURDAY NIGHT!
Labelle as Michaels runs through this film from start to finish putting out fires and dealing with drama from the big wigs upstairs to the little guy laying bricks on the stage. There is barely a scene that Labelle isn’t in and by the end I was absolutely dog tired even though I never left my seat. He gives us a fast-paced look at the first show and it is absolutely stunning with Labelle at the head of a shaky ship. Sennot as Rosie is Michael’s partner in the madness and she’s the one running around with a bucket of water for most of the fires.
Smith as Chase is charming and the biggest wise cracker of the bunch. That all comes to a stand still when confronted the likes of Milton Berle. Hunt as Radner is giddy to be a part of the cast, Fairn as Newman wonders where she fits in between Radner and Curtin, Matula as Curtin is quick and is willing to try anything to get the laugh. Morris as Morris is trying to fit in and that’s difficult when he sees himself as an Italian opera singer! O’Brien as Aykroyd must have study his character because I fell into his portrayal swiftly and made me laugh.
Braun gets the opportunity to play both the roles of Andy “Here He Comes to Save the Day” Kaufman and Jim “they are messing with my puppets” Henson. How fantastic that he does both and does them exceedingly well. Rhys as Carlin is playing one of the most iconic funny men of the time. Hoffman as Ebersol tries to keep Micheals on track but also knows something that he doesn’t and struggles with it.
Shout out to Willem Dafoe as Tebet and Simmons as Berle are both absolutely amazing in the film. Dafoe as the kind of slick haired smooth talker for Michaels but has an ace up his sleeve. Simmons is perfection as Milton Berle and his confrontation with Chase, Simmons gives us an Uncle Miltie that is jaw dropping.
Other cast include Finn Wolfhard as the NBC page, Ellen Boscov as Mrs. Kaufman, Andrew Feldman as Neil Levy, Leander Suleiman as Anne Beatts, Taylor Gray as Al Franken, Mcabe Gregg as Tom Davis, Abraham Hsu as Leo Yoshimura, Corinne Britti as Valri Bromfield, Rowan Joseph as Jim Fox, Kirsty Woodward as Audrey Dickman, Kaia Gerber as Jacqueline Carlin, Robert Wuhl as Dave Wilson, Drew Scheid as Bob Pook, Tommy Dewey as Michael O’Donoghue, Catherine Curtin as Joan Carbunkle, Josh Brener as Alan Zweibel, Paul Rust as Paul Schaffer, and Brian Welch as Don Pardo.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment encompasses motion picture production for television, digital content and theater releases. The studios include Columbia Pictures, Screen Gems, TriStar Pictures, Sony Pictures Animation, Stage 6 Films and Sony Picture Classics. To see what is coming to theaters and to home entertainment please visit www.sonypictures.com.
MOVIES ANYWHERE gives viewers the ability to download the Movies Anywhere App. With that you can view films by downloading or streaming to your favorite device using a Digital Code. For more information on Movies Anywhere please visit www.MoviesAnywhere.com.
Special Features include The Making of the Movie of The Show That Almost Never Made It, Filmmaker Commentary and more!
SATURDAY NIGHT is a fast-paced film that delves deep into the opening night of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE. It is a fantastic film and a wonderful way to learn about the beginnings of a show that still runs today – fifty seasons later! For my generation, there was nothing better in the world than gathering up friends, having a potluck, everyone bringing their favorite drink and sitting together on a Saturday night to laugh ourselves onto the floor. We understood the jokes, the underlying censor-pass humor, Land Shark!, Julia Childs aka Dan Aykroyd bleeding vigorously and John Belushi in a bee costume.
That’s what made this show and continues to make this show exciting, fun and a bit daring at times. Seeing how the first night came to be is just so amazing and Reitman, along with writer Gil Kenan, left no brick unlayed with the antics of the crew, the cast and those slinking around it all looking for a reason to pull the plug. SATURDAY NIGHT is a lesson in believing (especially in barrier breaking comedy) and how an idea can still resonate 45-years later. Hopefully friends are still gathering, potlucking and byob’ing.
In the end - the revolution begins at 11:30 p.m.!
No comments:
Post a Comment