Saturday Night captures the manic energy of Saturday Night Live, but is neither specific enough nor broad enough to reach its audience.

The Jason Reitman movie details the panicky 90 minutes leading up to the very first episode of the long-running variety sketch show in 1975. It was released last year but was only recently added to South African Netflix.

Regardless of your feelings about Saturday Night Live, it is impossible to deny its five-decade success and the influence it has had on generations of comedians. A British version of the show was just greenlit, proving its ongoing relevance.

There is plenty of show history that would make an excellent movie, including the same miniscule slice chosen by Saturday Night. There is the bristling electricity of young comedians on the brink of major stardom, like original cast members Chevy Chase, Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi, and the difficult dejection of those that did not breakout. It is a perfect setting for major success and heart-breaking tragedy.

Saturday Night flirts with the former but is largely uninterested in emotion, choosing instead to depict what appears to be the staging of an amateur production and the hijinks you might expect. As a piece of comedy with a couple of good jokes, it is perfectly serviceable.

The problem is that the movie assumes you know all the original cast members and can infer a bunch of background context that it chooses not to deliver. Many of the jokes rely on you being able to pick up on real life references.

There is nothing wrong with specificity, but the decision limits the ability of most people to get the full experience. And on the other hand, Saturday Night fudges a few details that have become sticking points for the ardent fans who know every possible detail going. The movie finds itself in a sort of purgatory between mass appeal and cult classic status.

An ensemble cast is mostly excellent however, and includes plenty of faces you might recognise and even more that are on that same precipice of becoming stars. Dylan O’Brien is particularly good as a quick-quipping Dan Aykroyd.

The movie is also excellently made and you certainly feel as if you’re in 1975. Whether that’s enough will be viewer specific.

Rated 18 for Language and Sex.
3/5.

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