Jason Reitman’s “Saturday Night” had its world premiere at Telluride, and the reactions are so far very positive. Former SNL cast member Bill Murray was on hand to introduce the film, alongside Reitman. The response from the audience was rambunctious.
Take into consideration that most films out of Telluride get overpraised, with some maintaining the momentum upon release, and others completely crashing once seen by a wider audience. With that said, “Saturday Night” raves are coming in from Variety, The Playlist, Vulture. There are also mixed-to-negative reviews from IndieWire, THR. and Rolling Stone, Combined, these six reviews equal to a 65 on Metacritic. [Updated]
Production on “Saturday Night” only wrapped in April. The film takes place in “real time,” 90 minutes before the first Saturday Night Live episode aired on October 11, 1975, as fearless young comedians and writers attempt to launch the skit-based show.
The film stars Gabriel LaBelle, Dylan O’Brien, Cory Michael Smith, Rachel Sennott, Lamorne Morris, Nicholas Braun, Finn Wolfhard, Jon Batiste, Ella Hunt, Cooper Hoffman, Andrew Barth Feldman, Naomi McPherson, Willem Dafoe, J.K. Simmons, and Kaia Gerber.
Jason Reitman, son of Ivan, is a very hit and miss director. He caught the zeitgeist with 2007’s “Juno,” and peaked with 2009’s “Up in the Air,” and his filmography does have a few other hidden gems (“Tully,” Young Adult”), but he’s also given us the utterly terrible “Men, Women and Children” and “Labor Day.”
Before it releases theatrically on October 11th, “Saturday Night” will also screen at TIFF, where I’ll be in attendance. Here are the first reactions coming in from Telluride …
