Weekend Watch - Saturday Night

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week’s topic, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers, is Jason Reitman’s film adaptation of the 90 minutes leading up to the airing of the first episode of SNL, Saturday Night. The film stars an ensemble cast as the show’s ensemble of players and writers, including Gabriel LaBelle as creator and writer Lorne Michaels, Rachel Sennott as Michaels’s wife and show writer Rosie Shuster, Cory Michael Smith as Chevy Chase, Ella Hunt as Gilda Radner, Dylan O’Brien as Dan Aykroyd, Emily Fairn as Laraine Newman, Matt Wood as John Belushi, Lamorne Morris as Garrett Morris (no relation), Kim Matula as Jane Curtin, Nicholas Braun as Andy Kaufman and Jim Henson, Cooper Hoffman as Dick Ebersol, Andrew Barth Feldman as Neil Levy, Willem Dafoe as Dave Tebet, and Matthew Rhys as Dan Carlin. The film, which chronicles most of the behind-the-scenes goings on of the sketch comedy show’s first night, opened this weekend. Let’s get into it.

Letter Grade: B-; this is a good film, not a great one that could have been great with just a little bit more fine tuning.

Should you Watch This Film? If you are a huge fan of SNL and consider yourself an expert in the show’s history, you’ll probably love this film and what it does. If you have some knowledge of and interest in SNL, then you can find something worth watching in it. If you have no interest in the show, I don’t know what this film does that’ll endear it to you.

Why?

                Saturday Night is a mildly disjointed passion project from a director in Reitman who clearly loves and knows way too much about his subject matter. The actors all do a phenomenal job playing these iconic figures of comedy history, marking the film’s real high point. Story-wise, though, it feels like Reitman had too many fun facts that he wanted to include to really create a satisfyingly cohesive narrative, jumping between business drama, drug comedy, relationship dramedy, biopic, and celebration of SNL without any clear sense of direction until the final sequence, which suddenly becomes this feel-good underdog drama. If it was going for the disconnected feel of an episode of SNL, highlighted more by the entertainment that comes from watching talented people do what they do best than by any sense of message or stance, then it might still work, but I’m not convinced that that’s really what Reitman was going for here. Like an episode of SNL, there are some bits that hit and others that fail to resonate at all and you’re left wondering whether everything you just witnessed in the last hour and half plus was really anything more than an excuse for the performers to put their talents on display. The 16mm film cinematography looks really good, also lending itself to that style over substance that the film seems to be going for. Ultimately, it’s an entertaining but empty film with talent that still deserves to be seen.

                While all of the actors playing their various characters do great jobs in their roles, playing the comedy titans faithfully and skillfully, it’s the performances from the behind-the-scenes characters that really stand out as more than just phenomenal impressions. Rachel Sennott gives us a compelling look at the complex marriage between Lorne Michaels and Rose Shuster, playing Rose as this capable and self-aware woman who made the show possible. Cooper Hoffman gives an admirable performance as the young executive who supported Michaels and his show, Dick Ebersol, punctuated by a strong scene where he finally reveals the precarious situation that the show is in to Lorne in a seedily lit stairwell. It really is LaBelle, though, who holds the whole film down, carrying it with a portrayal of Lorne Michaels as I’m sure Michaels would like to see himself, a young idealist who can’t imagine failing regardless of what practical knowledge might suggest. Gabriel LaBelle is a rising talent, and I’m glad that he does such a great job in this leading role.

                While the film struggles with thematic cohesion like an episode of the show that inspired it, the performances and stylistic choices that Reitman makes still make Saturday Night a film worth watching, though mostly for fans of the show and its history as opposed to a truly broad audience. It takes some unique swings, and some of them even hit. You can find this film in theaters right now if it sounds like something you’d like to check out. I’ll leave that up to you.

Weekend Watch - The Fabelmans

                Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week’s topic, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers is Steven Spielberg’s latest offering, the semi-autobiographical The Fabelmans about a young Jewish boy who wants to become a filmmaker and his family. The film released on Wednesday and stars Gabriel LaBelle, Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, Judd Hirsch, Seth Rogen, Mateo Zoryan, and Julia Butters. Let’s get into it.

Letter Grade: A-; Spielberg pays homage to so much greatness in here, but it’s lacking a bit in emotional weight.

Should you Watch This Film? Probably so, this will easily go down as one of the best films of 2022, and there’s plenty in here for all kinds of movie fans. On the big screen it looks great, but I’m sure it’ll be solid at home as well if you really can’t make it.

Why?

                The more I think about The Fabelmans, the more I grow to love it. Spielberg works his semi-autobiography as more of a family study and homage to the power of the camera than as a biopic or an homage to watching films. In that way, it successfully subverted my expectations and left me still thoroughly enjoying myself at the end. Each of its parts on their own is great, and together, they coalesce into something uniquely great as well. From the performances to the references to filmmaking to the little bits of home filmmaking thrown in as well, it all coheres into something worth seeing.

                Paul Dano, Judd Hirsch, Gabriel LaBelle, and Michelle Williams are the acting highlights of The Fabelmans, each doing his or her own part to make the film what it is. Dano’s Burt Fabelman ends up as the sympathetic father figure, condemned to distance from his family by his own technical genius and practical mind. Dano does an admirable job bringing humanity to this character and keeping him redeemable throughout. Judd Hirsch’s ten minutes of screen time as Uncle Boris might be the best part of the entire film. He comes in as this otherworldly figure to mourn the loss of his sister, Sammy’s grandmother, and stays to give Sammy the advice that will shape his future endeavors, noting that his passion for film and his love for his family will tear him apart if he isn’t careful. Relative newcome Gabriel LaBelle plays the teenage version of Sammy in the film and carries the film’s third act, which is more of a high school rom-com than anything else, as we see the character and the actor come into their own by the film’s conclusion. If you’ve been paying any attention to Oscar buzz, you know that Michelle Williams’s performance as Mitzi Fabelman has been a seeming shoe-in for one of the Best Actress nominations, and she more than delivers here. Her portrayal of a mother and woman with passions and flaws and grace and everything else drives the film’s narrative for a good portion, and she bears that weight beautifully.

                In the midst of Spielberg’s family drama, he weaves details of filmmaking like editing machines and camera models and shot framing to remind the audience that this isn’t just a film about his life but also a film about his passion. Through cutaways to family films and self-produced westerns and war movies, Spielberg endears himself and the film to the audience as he so often does, asking them to relate and want more by imparting a bit of his own passion to the audience. If there is to be any gripe with The Fabelmans, it is that, by including these other films and belaboring certain points of discovery and passion, the emotional moments of the film end up feeling very telegraphed and, as such, not overly moving. The rest of the film hits the points it needs to, making the audience love and care for each of the characters and get on board with Spielberg’s love for filmmaking; it’s just the emotional catharsis that never quite finds purchase.

                The Fabelmans is a triumph of a film, showcasing some great acting performances and the director’s passion for filmmaking. Expect to hear its name a lot in the coming months of film awards, as it is deserving of plenty with its star-studded cast and great technical aspects. Its emotional shortcomings are more than overcome with an engrossing story and quality filmmaking across the board.