‘Saturday Night’ review: A madcap backstage ode to Lorne Michaels’ legendary show

nypost.com:

a madcap comedy about the 90-minute dash leading up to the 1975 debut episode of “SNL,” the show’s famously enigmatic creator is lionized.

Michaels, the most important behind-the-scenes comedic force of the past 50 years, is placed on an innovator pedestal alongside the likes of Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg, only without their personal downsides.He’s portrayed as an optimistic young underdog with an improbably bold vision: a completely live, weekly sketch series starring inexperienced, unpolished nobodies in a desert island of time-slots.His “This is Sparta!” speech comes during the climax, when Lorne (Gabriel LaBelle) is grilled by NBC exec David Tebet (Willem Dafoe) about what “Saturday Night Live” exactly is.Lorne, finding his confidence in real time, tells doubting David it’s discovering a hot new comic at the back of a bar downtown, or being swept up by the music at a tucked-away jazz club.“It’s everything you think is going to happen when you move to the city,” says a then-30-year-old Michaels. “That’s ‘Saturday Night’.” And that’s the stuff of goosebumps.The David-and-Goliath confrontation is the best and most grounded scene in Jason Reitman’s never-less-than-likable film, which had its international premiere Tuesday at the Toronto Film Festival.

The plot barrels forward like the brakes are broken. And, being a Tour de Frantic, it can be hard to keep up. The gist is that this massive TV hit that spawned countless stars was nearly a disaster that didn’t make it to air.

Execs were ready to roll a “Tonight Show” rerun instead. Knowing this is his only chance, Michaels races around 30 Rock and Studio 8H attempting to get his scrappy creation up and running.