Michael's Movie Grade: B
A delightful film about the making of the first episode of Saturday Night Live.
In some ways this film can be a chaotic mess, but that is often the point. This movie is about the chaos of having a live show about to go on air in an hour and a half and not even being close to ready. The sheer number of characters and subplots make this chaos feel all the more real to us. While this would hurt the average film, it in fact makes this movie work so well. At first this can seem almost off-putting but once you get the idea of what it is doing, it instead comes off as one of the film's greatest charms. Even with all the characters and stories, this film's main goal is to put you in the shoes of producer and creator Lorne Michaels as he is trying to put this show together. Underneath all the comedy and subplots, we truly feel his anxiety and panic as he is trying to manage the seemingly impossible.
Comedy-wise this movie is a lot like an episode of Saturday Night Live. A lot of the humor falls flat, but when it is funny it is absolutely hilarious. Also like an episode of the beloved TV show, it is easy to forgive the humor that misses because of how funny that parts that work are. There were quite a few moments here that made the whole theater audience laugh out loud.
As for the cast most of them are wonderful. Gabriel LaBelle is wonderful as Lorne Michaels and helps drive this whole film. Corey Michael Smith is especially great as Chevy Chase. Seeing him, it is easy to forget that you are not really watching a young Chevy Chase. Nicholas Braun is underutilized as Andy Kaufman, but he really shines in the little screen time he gets. The Mighty Mouse bit with him is one of the film's comedic highlights. The performances by Rachell Sennott, J.K. Simmons, Dylan O'Brien and Lamorne Morris also help make this movie a delight. However, I feel that Matt Wood does not fully capture the wild comic energy of John Belushi (not that anyone really can).
This movie is a delight. It may not be perfect, but it is not supposed to be either.
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