Saturday Night was one of the biggest premieres of the Toronto International Film Festival 2024. The Jason Reitman-directed film chronicles the 90 minutes just before the debut of the biggest experimental TV show of all time, Saturday Night Live! While the film delivers on that premise, the larger story beats may be lost to audiences who don’t have deep knowledge of the real live events. Read on for my Saturday Night review straight from TIFF 2024.

Please note that while this Saturday Night review is spoiler-free, the events are based on a true story, so we’re using the word’spoilers’ pretty lightly here.

A Great Retelling Of The Real-Life Story

Image via Sony Pictures.

Jason Reitman’s Saturday Night explores the chaos and frenzy of the night that the show premiered. Saturday Night Live was one of the first-ever live sketch comedy shows. It is now one of the longest-running TV shows of all time, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. In anticipation, the movie Saturday Night looks at just how chaotic things were leading up to that first minute of broadcast. The outrageously wild true story highlights the beginning of a TV phenomenon that has launched the careers of some of the industry’s biggest comedians.

The film itself sees various talented young actors playing those real-life comedy icons who debuted with SNL. The movie features characters based on real-life SNL members like Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, John Belushi, Jim Henson, Andy Kaufman, George Carlin, and more. The retelling of that first night balances the energy of chaotic excitement with a ticking-time framing device that really makes the story move. That tone drops significantly anytime characters are outside the NBC studio where most of the story is happening. But back inside the studio is an extravaganza of subplots, character arcs, and chaos that will be bred from genius. For all involved.

There Are Some Acting Standouts In Saturday Night Review

Image via Sony Pictures.

Boasting one of the biggest ensemble casts that has ever graced the TIFF red carpet, the talent in Saturday Night is unparalleled. Playing the biggest star of the time, Chevy Chase is the breakout Cory Michael Smith. Smith perfectly captures the arrogance of Chase at the time and brings to life the legendary stories we’ve all heard about his time on the show. Dylan O’Brien from The Mazerunner franchise so brilliantly embodies Dan Aykroyd that it’s almost eery. And then there’s Matt Wood, who looked embodied the late great John Belushi. I wish we got more of O’Brien and Smith, but they commanded the scene whenever they were on screen.

But the biggest surprise has to be Gabriel LaBelle as a young Lorne Michaels, the producer extraordinaire who launched SNL and was the ringleader of this wild circus. LaBelle was last at TIFF with Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans. But it’s Saturday Night that really cements him as an up-and-comer to keep an eye on. LaBelle’s Lorne in many ways is the main protagonist, amongst all these outrageous characters; the one who has a more thorough line and story arc than any other. It’s really his story, and the main story is playing out through his perspective.

LaBelle is aloof when needed, assertive when required, and also nervous and meek at other times. It’s a performance that has to juggle a lot of different emotions, similar to the character trying to juggle his actors, writers, and executives in order to put out the first-ever live comedy show, something he can’t even describe.

Who Is Saturday Night Really For?

Image via Sony Pictures.

The biggest criticism of Saturday Night, and it kind of impacts its overall effect, is that it feels safe and too inside baseball. The movie plays very fast and loose with any sort of background or exposition into these characters or this monumental feat of television that we are witnessing. The format of the movie doesn’t allow us to live with any character for way too long, beyond a brief emotionally charged line of dialogue or amazing one-liner. And while that is expected of a movie with such a huge cast, it doesn’t have any impact if you don’t know who these characters are. Or even to a larger degree, what Saturday Night Live! is.

The stakes, the build-up, the settings, and the characters would all be unfamiliar to anyone watching Saturday Night without any prior knowledge of SNL. The writing doesn’t allow any information about the proceedings outside of what’s already in the room. Casual audiences won’t recognize the genius of George Carlin appearing on screen for a hilarious exchange with whoever is on screen with him. Even the significance of certain moments or the evolution of things that have become SNL trademarks would be lost on audiences who don’t follow the live variety show.

Despite the movie not being accessible to non-SNL audiences, Saturday Night is still a fun watch for all the antics of the story. While the larger significance of the story and its depictions won’t have as much of an impact on regular audiences, fans will love seeing their favorite comedians acting out one of the most significant moments of pop culture history.