Saturday Night (7/10)
by Tony Medley
109 Minutes.
R.
This is alleged to be the story of the 90 minutes leading up to the debut show of Saturday Night Live. That is, it is “based on” the story. Apparently, there was a lot of chaos and the show almost didn’t make it to air. But what we see here on the screen is extremely hard to swallow.
Directed by Jason Reitman from a script by Reitman and Gil Kenan, it is populated by an ensemble cast, which includes Willem Dafoe, Matthew Rhys, and J.K. Simmons in supporting roles.
It is amusing and well-acted, but it stretches credulity. For one thing, the timelines don’t make any sense. Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LaBelle) leaves the studio 15 minutes before airtime, and what he does in those 15 minutes is simply impossible to perform in 15 minutes.
There are some outstanding performances. J.K. Simmons presents Milton Berle in an exceedingly unfavorable light (maybe it’s accurate). Ella Hunt is a good Gilda Ratner. Matthew Rhys is nothing like the George Carlin I knew. Privately, he was nothing like his onstage character. My only connection with Dick Ebersol was to interview him for a Hollywood Reporter article I wrote. Then I ran into him again in an elevator 20 years later. I was with my friend, TV producer Bob Seizer who had done some work for Dick. They said hello. Then Dick looked at me and said, “You’re Tony Medley.” I was stunned. We had only met for a one-hour interview two decades previously and he remembered me and my name. I said, “Yes, boy you have a great memory.” I’ve always regretted not asking him how he could remember me after all those years and what he had accomplished. Anyway, this portrayal is nothing like the Ebersol I knew.
The movie is interesting and humorous, but I don’t believe it. The night might have been chaotic, but what is presented here is difficult to accept.
Tony Medley is an attorney, columnist, and MPAA-accredited film critic whose reviews and articles may be read in several newspapers and at rottentomatoes.com, CWEB.com, RobinhoodNews.com, Movie Review Query Engine (mrqe.com), and at www.tonymedley.com. His most recent book is “Learn to Play Bridge Like a Boss,” the most complete “all in one” book for beginners and also for advanced players. He is also the author of three books, UCLA Basketball: The Real Story, Sweaty Palms: The Neglected Art of Being Interviewed, the first book ever written on the interview for the interviewee and still in print after more than thirty years, having sold over a half million copies, and The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Bridge, which has sold over 100,000 copies. He is an American Contract Bridge League Silver Life Master and an ACBL accredited director.
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