Saturday Night Review: This Ode To Sketch Comedy Is A Flighty, Frenetic Rollercoaster Ride [TIFF 2024]

In the world of "Saturday Night Live," during that anarchic stretch of live television from 11:30 PM to 1:00 AM, anything can — and frequently does — happen. But although the seminal comedy show now feels like a foregone conclusion, there was once a time when it had absolutely equal odds of going out in flames during its very first episode. "Saturday Night" zeroes in on the hours before it would make its debut, with Lorne Michaels (an utterly committed Gabriel LaBelle) putting together the finishing touches of its inaugural episode with scotch tape, paperclips, and wads of chewing gum. It's a high energy ensemble piece, offering — much as the original "Saturday Night Live" did — a window into the next generation of character actors. Even if the plot is fairly thin on the ground, "Saturday Night" is well-paced and thoroughly entertaining as it documents the birth of a comedy classic.

In the hours leading up to the first episode of "Saturday Night Live," Lorne Michaels has never been closer or further away from realizing his dream. He has all of the components of a renegade comedy hit on his hands — an energetic, immensely talented young cast, a team of writers with their fingers on the pulse of a subversive sense of humor that had never been seen on television before, and free reign from NBC to do pretty much whatever he wants (as long as it doesn't run afoul of the censors, that is). But it's also inches away from collapsing entirely — one sour exchange between Chevy Chase (Cory Michael Smith) and John Belushi (Matt Wood), the wrong union worker leaving the set in a huff, and "Saturday Night" is murdered in its cradle. Lorne has one job: To get them to 11:30 PM. After that, it's out of his hands.

"Saturday Night," a narrative that unfolds in as close to real time as possible, moves at a steady clip, never pausing long enough to let any of the character impersonations wear out their welcome. It recognizes that the worst sketches on "Saturday Night Live" are the ones that drag on, and acts accordingly. Some of the members of the sprawling ensemble cast do more to make an impression on audiences, but they're all an uncannily well-cast group of performers who go well beyond mere impersonations of the original "SNL" crew. Dylan O'Brien plays a charmingly laid-back Dan Aykroyd, while Cory Michael Smith plays Chevy Chase who somehow, annoyingly, has an undeniable it factor. Matt Woods is basically channeling the energy of the late John Belushi, while Lamorne Morris captures the befuddlement of Juilliard-trained Garrett Morris at being asked to work on this experimental sketch comedy show.

Throughout the entire production, there are many different styles of comedy at play, the most effective of which is the understated "person with a good sense of humor talking rather than purposefully telling jokes." Gabriel LaBelle is especially talented at this; there's one moment where, after Nicholas Braun as Andy Kaufman does his famous lip-synch rendition of the Mighty Mouse theme song, he encourages him to save his voice with a note of quiet concern that is so understated it almost runs the risk of being overlooked. It's this approach to comedy that helps "Saturday Night" from needing to rely too heavily on impressions, which could otherwise run the risk of getting old fairly early on in the proceedings. Like the drummer in a band, LaBelle might be overshadowed by the showier sketch comedy equivalents of the singer and lead guitarist, but he's undeniably the timekeeper, the one whose line deliveries set the pace of the production.

It's easy to imagine a version of this movie that takes a more standard approach to the "Saturday Night Live" origin story, one where we see Lorne Michaels pitch the show to NBC, hire the cast, and painstakingly bring the production to the air. But the decision to instead create a tightly-written film that zeros in on the last 90 minutes before showtime is a much better fit for the show. 

Cramming all of this background content into just an hour and a half — as well as including all the production challenges of the first episode of "SNL" — allows the film to mirror the anarchic spirit of the original show. That it often feels as though it's flying by the seat of its pants is a feature, not a bug. The end result of "Saturday Night" is a film that, when you look back on it and reflect on your viewing experience, may not have a whole lot going on in terms of plot. But as a frenetic, chaotic glimpse at the making of a doomed-to-fail sketch comedy series that has somehow lasted for 50 years, "Saturday Night" is a blast.

"Saturday Night" premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, and will hit theaters on October 11.