“Saturday Night” Screens At Nashville Film Festival

Jason Reitman came to the Nashville Film Festival on 9/21/2024 with his newest film, “Saturday Night,” a re-enactment of the opening night (October 11, 1975) when “Saturday Night Live” went on the air “live” for the first time. Writer/Director Jason Reitman brought the casting director, John Papsidera with him. That was a master stroke, because this re-enactment of the opening night of “Saturday Night Live,” boasts a star-studded cast. There are so many up-and-coming young talents (and established talents, like Willem Dafoe and J.K. Simmons) involved that it is almost impossible to list them all.  But it’s worth trying so that you can keep an eye out amongst the over 80 speaking parts to figure out who that individual was, (in historical terms). We can marvel at the job that casting ”Saturday Night” represents.

THE CAST

The plot is told through the eyes of the creator of “Saturday Night Live,” Lorne Michaels. Michaels is played by Gabriel LaBelle, who was cast as young Steven Spielberg in “The Fabelmans” (2022).  Jon Batiste plays Billy Preston. Kaia Gerber (daughter of Cindy Crawford) is Jacqueline Carlin. Finn Wolfhard (“Stranger Things”) portrays an unnamed NBC page, Lamorne Morris (recent Emmy winner for “Fargo”) is Garrett Morris. Tommy Dewey (“Casual”) is head writer Michael O’Donoghue.  Nicolas Braun (“Succession”) handles two roles, as Jim Henson and Andy Kaufman. Matthew Rhys (“The Americans”) is George Carlin. Cooper Hoffman (“Licorice Pizza”) plays Dick Ebersol.  Andrew Barth Feldman (“No Hard Feelings”) is Neil Levy. Taylor Gray (“Star Wars: Rebels”) is Al Franken. Rachel Sennott (“Bottoms”) is Lorne Michaels’ first wife, Rosie Shuster.  Dylan O’Brien (“Maze Runner,” 2014) is Dan Aykroyd.  I’ve probably failed to properly mention a few of the up-and-coming stars of tomorrow that are in this film about 1975’s up-and-coming stars of tomorrow You’ll want to see how close the actors come to resembling the real “Saturday Night Live” stars.

There are over 80 speaking parts in the film. John Papsidera (a sometimes Nashville resident), who also worked on “Oppenheimer,” described that as a huge number. The most difficult cast member to decide upon turned out to be Dan Aykroyd, (said the duo in the Q&A after the screening). With the other cast members, they said, they “tried to find the essence of the person. The movie is about who they are.” The key was to find one main characteristic per character.  Chevy Chase was primarily portrayed as egotistical, Garrick Morris was trying to identify how he fit into the cast, O’Donaghue displayed the ability to say the nastiest things but have them come from a place of humor. Gilda Radner was always taking care of others…

 

 

 

 

THE PERFECT DIRECTORIAL CHOICE

Back in 2007, right after “Juno” made waves for Reitman with Best Director and Best Picture Oscar nominations, Jason was asked what he wanted to do next. He mentioned his desire to write for SNL (in addition to continuing to direct). Jason was given a one-night stand opportunity to participate in the behind-the-scenes goings on of a SNL episode. Reitman shared that Ashton Kutcher was the host (and starred in the skit Reitman wrote, entitled “Death by Chocolate”). Gnarls Barkley was the musical guest “which gives you an idea what decade it was,” laughed Reitman.

THE MUSICAL SCORE

“Jon Batiste is a genius unlike anyone I’ve ever met in my life.  He has a photographic memory of sound.  We decided we should try to do the sound track the way they did SNL: live. There is music in the movie that would never have been there if Jon hadn’t been giving it to me like that.” Batiste’s rendition of “Nothin’ from Nothin” that kicks off the first show is electric. Batiste’s interpretation of the Afro-haired musician (who actually wore wigs for his gigs) was spot-on.

 

SCRIPT

The writing shows Reitman’s award-winning touch ( Gil Kenan is  co-writer). Reitman’s film “Juno” won a nomination for Best Screenplay based on Diablo Cody’s script in 2007 and “Up in the Air” won the Golden Globe in 2010 for Best Screenplay (based on the Sheldon Turner book). “Up in the Air” was also Oscar-nominated (2009) for Best Adapted Screenplay while winning the BAFTA that year.

The script for “Saturday Night” has more zingers and one-liners than any film released this year. Here’s  one quick example, “Let me know when my expectations exceed your capabilities” (Head writer O’Donaghue to the lighting crew, after lights nearly fall on the performers.) Another good one, aimed at a meddling middle-aged female censor (Catherine Curtin as Joan Carbunkle; no relation to Jane Curtin): “I’ve heard that love is blind, and now I know why.” One running joke involves how the writers constantly try to sneak risqué sexual references past NBC censor Carbunkle by mis-explaining a variety of sexual terms.

AWARDS

When I spoke with Jason Reitman and mentioned meeting him previously In Chicago in 2018, the year of “The Front Runner,” he suggested that I might be one of the few at tonight’s screening who had seen the film. Reitman added, “It turns out that people were less interested in Gary Hart’s Senate campaign than in Saturday Night Live.” Sad, that.  “The Front Runner,” “Up In the Air,” “Tully,” “Thank You for Smoking” and “Jennifer’s Body” are among my favorite films by any director currently working.  Reitman also produced (but did not write or direct) the 2011 DuPlass Brothers comedy “Jeff, Who Lives At Home” with Susan Sarandon, Jason Segel, and Ed Helms.

STYLE

“Saturday Night” is shot using 16 millimeter film. The pacing of the film is aided by the use of real time as the cast struggled to make the project gel before 11:30 p.m. on Saturday night. This time-line adds to the tension.  The great (and oft-nominated Willem Dafoe) portrays David Tebet, the Chief Suit who will decide if “Saturday Night” goes on the air live or if re-runs of Carson’s “Tonight” show,  bump it. Like “Apollo 13,” even though we know how that resolves  itself, it adds tension to the plot’s story and emphasizes the show’s conflict and dilemma. (*No idea if this was legitimate or poetic license for the film.)Referencing the frenetic  pace of the show on that night, the  Michael Ritchie (“The Candidate”) style was described as “Robert Altman on amphetamines.”

This is such an ambitious project. Congratulation to all involved!  “Saturday Night” documents the passing of the torch from one comedic generation to another. With the current political situation in the United States, passing the torch from one generation to another is a hot topic. With Jean Smart (“Hacks”) set to host the opening program of the 50^th year of “Saturday Night Live,”  this edge-of-your-seat attempt to show who the original “Saturday Night Live” not-ready-for-prime-time players were is a great movie. As Reitman said, “It requires so much control to pull off the chaos.” And there is plenty of orchestrated chaos in this one.

CONCLUSION

“Saturday Night” is “the prism that captures the light of an emerging generation.” The 50^th season of “SNL” is upon us. The movie’s release date of October 11^th is an homage to “Saturday Night Live’s” original debut date. Let the comedy begin!

Does “Saturday Night” work?

Yes, it does. Check it out at your local theater beginning October 11th, 2024.