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Saturday Night
     review by Bobby Blakey

Whether you are an old fan, new fan or could care less either way, there is no denying that Saturday Night Live is iconic and has produced some of the biggest stars out there. Now Ghostbusters: Afterlife director Jason Reitman is taking fans back to the night that started it all in Saturday Night starring Gabriel LaBelle, Rachel Sennott, Cory Michael Smith, Ella Hunt, Dylan O’Brien, Emily Fairn, Matt Wood, Lamorne Morris, Kim Matula, Finn Wolfhard, Nicholas Braun, Cooper Hoffman, Andrew Barth Feldman, Kaia Gerber, Tommy Dewey, Willem Dafoe, Matthew Rhys, J.K. Simmons, Jon Batiste and Naomi McPherson. Could this film capture the essence of the famed show and cast, or will it fail to make the air?

 

Saturday Night follows a ferocious troupe of young comedians and writers changed television - and culture - forever at 11:30pm on October 11, 1975. Directed by Jason Reitman and written by Gil Kenan & Reitman, Saturday Night is based on the true story of what happened behind the scenes in the 90 minutes leading up to the first broadcast of SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE. Full of humor, chaos, and the magic of a revolution that almost wasn’t, we count down the minutes in real time until we hear those famous words.

 

Heading into this film I was hesitant about how this would work with portrayals of such an iconic cast. For this film to really work, you must buy into these characters, being the likes of Chevy Chase, Dan Akroyd, John Belushi etc. To my joyful surprise everyone kills it with Dylan O’Brien as Akroyd being my favorite of the bunch. A lot of them embody the role in every way, with a few that don’t necessarily fit visually, but all still bring their A game and making you buy into it all.

 

I would have loved a bigger story of the creation, casting and building of Saturday Night Live, but this direction of the story offered up way more than I had expected. It is a non-stop narrative that feels like the pacing of bringing the show

to the airwaves and all the chaos involved. I have no idea how much is accurate and how much is Hollywood, but it feels like it hits every mark to perfection to create a story that pulls you into this iconic moment in television history. All the working pieces, blunders, and historical moments that we do know about brought together in this film is a thing of beauty.

 

Reitman has crafted a simple premise into a compelling fast paced story that takes us into a piece of history to perfection. I love the 70s gritty look to the whole thing in the set designs and costumes, but also in the look of the camera work. It’s not the sort of film that you would think is all that engaging, but from the moment it starts until the credits role I was fully immersed and captivated by the execution and performances all around.

 

In addition to the film this release offers bonus content including commentary, making of featurettes and more. Step onto the set that changed television with Saturday Night available now on digital and then on Blu-ay and DVD on January 7th from Sony Home Entertainment.

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