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 impossible to accept.
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