Saturday Night: Why Was This Film Ignored?

 

 

 

Saturday Night (2024)

Directed by Jason Reitman

Sony Pictures Releasing, 109 minutes, R (language, sexuality, drug use)

★★★★

 

An odd thing happened as Saturday Night Live prepared for its 50^th anniversary this year. A pretty decent film was made to pay homage to its first broadcast on October 11, 1975, or perhaps more accurately, the miracle that it happened at all. The film won numerous awards at film festivals, was reviewed favorably by 75% of the critics who previewed it, and assembled a convincing ensemble of actors to step into the now-legendary shoes of producer Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LaBelle), Dan Aykroyd (Dylan O’Brien), John Belushi (Matt Wood), Chevy Chase (Cory Michael Smith), Jane Curtin (Kim Matula), Garrett Morris (Lamorne Morris), Laraine Newman (Emily Fairn), Michael O’Donohue (Tommy Dewey), and Gilda Radner (Ella Hunt). Then the nearly $30 million film opened in theaters and tanked! It returned less than $10 million at the box office, went to video, and disappeared amidst some very harsh reviews.

 

It's back and that’s a good thing. It has been labelled a biography-comedy-drama. As readers know, I’m often critical of neither fish-nor-fowl hybrids, but Saturday Night is a very entertaining movie. Please note that it’s decidedly not a documentary. Co-writer and director Jason Reitman mixed things that happened, numerous situations that did not, and quite a few that are mongrelized versions of truth, near-truth, and complete fiction. In my estimation, Reitman did this to draw in viewers so they would not spend 109 minutes fixated on whether or not the actors looked or acted like the real McCoys. They mostly do, but Reitman’s aim was to capture the vibe of opening night chaos. From what I am able to determine, NBC executive Dick Ebersole (Cooper Hoffman) actually believed the show was unready for prime time and came close to pulling the plug. Reitman enhanced the pandemonium through exaggeration, well-placed slapstick, and obstacles from people who weren’t actually there (like Milton Berle). Did TV/theatre executive Dave Tebet (Willem Dafoe) play good cop/bad cop on the set? Maybe. Was Michaels’ wife Rosie Shuster (Rachel Sennott) really enamored with Aykroyd’s virility? Doubtful. Did Belushi come to opening night having not signed his contract? Yep.

 

What we know Reitman got right was that the original cast was often fueled by cocaine and lesser drugs, that Aykroyd, Belushi, and Chase brought petulance and enormous egos with them, that Morris–a Julliard trained singer­–was often frustrated by his roles and the perceived tokenism of being the only black cast member, and that the female cast members knew testosterone poisoning when they saw it. All except Radner originally saw the gig as just a paycheck. (Radner was too full of energy and matched Belushi’s maniacal spontaneity with her own.) As we later learned, more guest hosts liked the idea of being on SNL better than the actual experience. In the film, George Carlin (Matthew Rhys) presaged those who didn’t like the very idea of winging things in sketches. Others, such as Billy Preston (Jon Batiste), simply rolled with the punches.

 

In the past 50 years SNL has changed casts countless times, sometimes hitting the jackpot (Billy Crystal, Dana Carney, Rachel Dratch, Tina Fey, Jimmy Fallon, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Dennis Miller, Eddie Murphy, Bill Murray, Any Poehler, Joe Piscopo, Cecily Strong), duds (Jim Belushi, Ellen Cleghorne, Anthony Michael, Horatio Sanz, the entire cast of 1995), and­–I await your wrath–those whose allure eludes me (Chris Farley, Will Ferrell, Bobby Moynihan, Molly Shannon). And let’s give as shout out to brilliant occasional actors such as Don Novello, whose Father Guido Sarducci sketches remain hysterical. If you want more, Rolling Stone has its own ratings of all 145 actors who have appeared on SNL.

 

SNL has become part of American culture, though after watching Saturday Night you might wonder how in the blazes it made it out of year one. To take a potshot at a myth, it’s just not true that nothing like SNL had ever hit the airwaves. What was the Carol Burnet Show, Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In and dozens of British comedies if not SNL precursors? Old  Laugh-In episodes look pretty goofy from our current POV, but it’s the culture that has changed, not the zany intent of comedians. Nearly all forms of comedy are by nature subversive. All that constrains comics is how far they can go before censors, cops, and zealots shut them down.

 

Rob Weir

 

MLB Central Time

 

 

 

It’s been a while since MLB Central teams have generated much excitement. The Cubs won the World Series in 2016 and the Royals in 2015, but the Cubs might have been an outlier. Could 2025 see some Central Division team go deep in the postseason? I rather doubt it.

 

AL Central

 

1. Detroit Tigers. KC is the safer pick, but I’m playing a hunch with Detroit. Unlike the Tigers of the 1980s/90s, they won’t slug their way to a title. Aside from (Riley) Greene, the hope that Keith will develop fast, and the frustrating Torres coming over from New York, Detroit’s lineup seems a bit thin. But they might not need to score in bunches with a staff anchored Skubal, Mize, Flaherty (good pickup), and hot prospect Jobe. I’m going with the great-pitching-wins theory.

 

2. Kansas City Royals. They have the best hitting in the Central: Witt, Renfroe, Pasquantino, India, Perez… The pitching is also decent: Lugo, Ragan, Wacha, Lorenzen. They also have two big question marks in the outfield and one in the closer role. They are good enough to win if the Tigers falter.

 

3. Minnesota Twins. A team that constantly disappoints. It’s a collection of hitters with one star, Correa, and others that are merely okay. That list includes Buxton, who has a terrific glove but overall is one of the most overhyped players in MLB. Lopez is a good pitcher and (Joe) Ryan occasionally turns in a nice performance, but there’s a reason why the Twins were 21^st in ERA last year.

 

4. Cleveland Guardians. Vogt is a smart young skipper and he’ll need to be to prevent Cleveland from taking a big step backward this year. It’s hard to see a repeat of last year’s 92-win season with a lineup whose only pop is Ramirez, now that (Josh) Naylor is in Phoenix–unless they think 42 year-old Santana will revert to his 2019 self. Kwan gets on base, but who else now that Gimenez is a Blue Jay? Lots of young pitchers in the pipeline but aside from Lively, no projected starter won more than 8 games last year.

 

5. Chicago White Sox. Call it a successful year it the ChiSox lose only 100 games. They have a strong minor league system but a lot of future talent will need to mature overnight to prevent a repeat of last year’s nightmare 121-loss season. What does it tell you when Benintendi led the team in two offensive categories and their best pitcher is now in a Red Sox uniform? Expect more roster turnover than wins.

 

 

 

NL Central:

 

1. Milwaukee Brewers: The only decent team in the Central, which is far from saying the Brew Crew is great. They will get production out of Hoskins, Chourio, Contreras, and Yelich. Peralta, Cortes, and Woodruff are decent if the latter has put his injuries behind him. Quintana will soak up innings. The aptly named Close is one of the best relievers in baseball.

2. Pittsburgh Pirates are another hunch team. Skenes is one of the best pitchers in baseball, Chandler and (Jared) Jones are highly regarded rookies, and Keller has yet to find his groove. If and two of the three clikc, the Bucs can make some noise. If they have to lean on Heaney, the Pirates will head for Davy Jones Locker. Reynolds is a pro hitter; (Oneail) Cruz, Kiner-Falefa, and Bart are decent players, and McCutcheon and Pham are seasoned vets. Finishing above .500 would be a major step forward. They may have to jettison Yankee castoffs in the bullpen to get there.

 

3. Chicago Cubs look like a reverse copy of the Pirates. The Cubs will hit with Happ, Hoerner, Suzuki, Swanson, (Justin) Turner, and newly acquired Tucker in the lineup. How far they go will depend on how well they pitch. Taillon seems to have found a home on the North Side. If Boyd can find the same level of comfort and touted rookie Horton becomes half the pitcher Skenes is, the Cubs could pass the Bucs and possibly grab a Wild Card. Pressly is an excellent closer.

 

4. Cincinnati Reds are the team I’m least certain of in all of baseball. On one hand, they have  a strong farm system; on the other, three youngsters they hoped would be starting pitchers are on the IL. This makes (Hunter) Greene or (Nick) Martinez the de facto ace and neither is a sure thing, nor is Singer a surefire #3. Luckily, in Stephenson and Trivino they have excellent catchers. De La Cruz is as fast as greased lightning but his bat cooled last year. Lux coming over from LA should help, as will Hays (from Baltimore) when he gets off the IL. Right now, the #2 bat is Candelario and that’s not ideal. The closer? Who knows? The wild card is the Francona factor. He excels in tough situations and his teams are always entertaining.

 

5. St. Louis Cardinals. They sure went from contenders to pretenders in a hurry. They are the opposite of what you’d think by looking at them on paper. They have proven pitchers like (Sonny) Gray, Mikolas, Matz, and closer Helsley yet were 16^th in ERA last year. The lineup doesn’t seem very strong once one gets past the scrappy Donovan, (Willson) Contreras, and disgruntled (and allegedly declining) Arenado, yet were 8^th in batting average. Most, including me, see them as repeating 2024’s 5^th place finish, yet… if they rebounded and were in contention, I’d be only mildly surprised. That could happen if a few pitchers (Mathews and Hence) make the jump from the minors to the majors.

 

Rob Weir

Big Chief: All is Not Well on the Reservation

 

 

 

Big Chief  (Coming April 2025)

By Jon Hickey

Simon and Schuster, 320 pages.

★★★★

 

Big Chief is about Native Americans, though the title refers to a fortress-like Ford Super-Duty F-350 truck designed to impress and intimidate. Jon Hickey's novel takes place on the Passage Rouge reservation in Wisconsin, which sports a contentious community of Anishinaabe (Chippewa) people. It's Thanksgiving time and an election for tribal chief looms.

 

Non-native peoples often valorize all things Native American. Hickey–like writers such as Sherman Alexie, Louise Erdrich, Tommy Orange, Leslie Marmon Silko, and Morgan Talty–reminds us that homegrown discontent runs rampant in indigenous communities. Mack Beck, who drives Big Chief, is the incumbent Passage Rouge chief but faces stiff opposition from Gloria Hawkins. His advisor, 30-year-old Mitch Caddo, is the book’s centerpiece. Mitch is native and the youngest operations director in tribal history, yet an outsider. His mother grew up in Old Village, the original Passage Rouge Settlement, but his white father’s shortcomings led mother and son to flee to Milwaukee. Upon her death Mitch was raised by grandparents before Joe and Maureen Beck, who are white,  brought him back to Passage Rouge and provided him opportunities. 

 

The Becks live on a nicer property than most of their Native neighbors, and raised Mack–and later, Mitch–alongside their biological daughter Layla. Joe knows tribal history and rituals better than most Anishinaabeg, passes on his knowledge, and has done numerous good things for the reservation. For Mitch that’s a mixed blessing. He loves Joe and Maureen, but his mixed blood status, polished manners, Ivy League education, years off the reservation, and law degree make him an outlier.

 

In many ways, Mitchell, Gloria, and Joe are living embodiments of central dilemmas in the novel. Who is a native? If it's solely a matter of blood, how much? Being “red” is up for grabs in Passage Rouge, a place filled with HUD  houses, rivalries, an increasingly militarized tribal police force, and a casino that attracts outsiders when it's not being used as makeshift community center. Mack fancies himself a reformer, but has fallen into some negative old-school ways. Mitch can’t get Mack to realize that Gloria is a serious candidate and that he can’t count on winning by handing out allotment checks, cigarettes, and selective favors or getting heavy-handed when needed. Mitch holds progressive views, but these often clash with running Mack’s campaign. How hard can he push Mack if he wants to remain a political player?  

 

You might wonder why anyone would want to be a player at Passage Rouge. Its politics are like a casino game rigged so that no one wins. You name it and there's a faction for it on the reservation: modernizers, an old boys network, do-gooders, grafters, those who wish to revive old tribal customs, city Indians, reservation Indians…. Not to mention romantic rivalries, some of which revolve around the independent and opinionated Layla. She has moved on from her marriage to Chief of Police Bobby Lone Eagle, who remains territorial and acts like Little Big Man. The reservation is so riven that many speak openly of weaponizing tactics of un-enrolling those who don’t measure up to their particular definition of “Indian” and of exiling non-natives.

 

About the only thing resembling consensus is that few on the reservation trust the government–though many tout their military service and rely upon those allotment checks–and don't want the Department of Justice poking into tribal matters. In such a volatile moment of stress, all that's needed is for someone to light a fuse. Protests, kidnapping, a fatal accident, threats, and a shooting raise different questions about what is meant by Indian blood.

 

Hickey's novel is multilayered. It grapples with very serious identity issues, yet is also shot through with humor. It is about justice in a place in which injustices of all sorts swirl about. It's a romance, but not a conventional one, a murder mystery, and a heroic tale filled with flawed and questionable candidates for said status.

 

One might say that Hickey overdoes rushing from crisis-to-crisis scenarios, but he keeps the pace moving, and presents modern Anishinaabeg life stripped of stereotypes. This is Hickey's first novel and if Big Chief is any indication, the first of many fine books to come.

 

Rob Weir

 

Thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book.