Went and saw this last night, it was really good but it wasn't what I expected, I thought it was the story of the creation of Saturday Night Live and how it rose to prominence in that first season but it was actually a minute by minute retelling of the 90 minutes leading up to the very first show on October 11, 1975 and all the chaos, drama and insanity that surrounded the debut that night, although they managed to pack a whole lot of extra into that 90 minutes because the story is mostly true but everything that they show didnt actually all happen in the last couple hours before showtime
They did a really good job with the casting and hair/makeup because you could tell instantly who everyone was the moment they appeared on screen, usually in these kinda movies they'll show the persons name under them the first time you see them so you can keep track of who everyone is but there was no need to here because you instantly recognized Andy Kaufman, Billy Crystal, Jane Curtin, etc. as soon as they popped up
All the actors were solid, the guy playing Jon Belushi was just as unlikable as the real Jon Belushi, but JK Simmons was great as Milton Berle, he was the best imo
For us old school rasslin fans, it was interesting to see Dick Ebersol portrayed as a young nervous brown noser since we mostly know him as the big cheese who created Saturday Nights Main Event, the Royal Rumble and played a huge role in teaching Vince McMahon all about glitzy glamorous television production
Longtime fans of SNL will notice all kinds of Easter eggs and references to those first couple seasons of the show
It was a really fun rollercoaster ride as the clock kept ticking down to air time and they were still building sets, writing the show, trying to find the drugged out actors and even get the final approval from NBC to actually allow the show to air, it was a pretty exhilarating last few minutes that you couldnt help but get wrapped up in and lean on the edge of your seat, even though you kinda already knew the finish
If youre a fan of the early days of SNL or enjoy learning about the backstage nuts and bolts of live event production like ole Pete does then I suspect you will enjoy this one
6.2 Thumbs Up Outta 7
Would be a perfect 7 Thumbs Up if I didnt dislike Jon Belushi so much
