Best Picture 2025: Jason Reitman Has a Gritty Crowdpleaser with Saturday Night

Jason Reitman’s Saturday Night had its World Premiere at Telluride last night at the Galaxy Theater and blew the lid off the joint. While it took a while for the crowd to connect fully and totally to the pacing and the rapid-fire dialogue, by the last third, the film hits its stride, and by the end: BOOM. It’s a winner.

I grew up with Saturday Night Live, so I was worried Reitman would pull punches, given that today’s environment is so restrictive. And while it doesn’t cross over into any really offensive territory and keeps the ideological allegiances on the right side, he does what I didn’t think he would do: he depicts the world of SNL’s early days the way they were: dirty, nasty, funny as hell.

The film centers on Gabriel LaBelle as Loren Michaels who must assemble SNL’s first episode to go live at 11:30pm. Nothing about the plot is that surprising. We know the show does go on and we know it lives for decades after. That’s really just the framing to show how many of them didn’t know what they were doing and had the creative spirit and risk-taking audacity to put something that barely sewn together on the air. But it was funny. That’s why it worked.

Reitman filmed it in 16mm and on film, which helps to make us feel more like we’re back in 1975 and not here in 2024. He also moves the camera through the action to present an illusion of participation. We’re right there with them. We’re catching the asides, the embarrassing moments and the just as funny off-screen jokes.

Saturday Night is what some might say a “return to form” for Jason Reitman, even though he’s still such a young filmmaker. This recalls the early days of Thank You for Smoking and Up in the Air. It stands out this year as an uplifting, nostalgic good time at the movie. He doesn’t shrink back from the things that might “upset” fragile audiences today, like the well-known sexual harassment, the drug taking, the off-color jokes.

The cast is superb from top to bottom. Most of them are not well-known to audiences, honoring the legacy of Saturday Night – no one knew who any of them were either. JK Simmons has a cameo as Milton Berle and all but steals the show in one great scene. Tracy Letts also has one minute of scene-stealing brilliance.   Succession’s Nicholas Braun plays both Andy Kaufman and Jim Henson and is a standout even with shorter scenes.

Matt Wood nails John Belushi and Cory Michael Smith is a fine Chevy Chase — as they call him a “handsome funny gentile.” He would go on to become the biggest movie star of the bunch until Bill Murray would join the cast.

Here at Telluride there are two films featuring SNL vets, Will & Harper with Will Farrell and The Friend, with Bill Murray. Murray helped introduce Saturday Night to Telluride audiences and got a standing ovation.

And yes, of course, these are ideal circumstances to watch any movie but especially one by a Telluride son like Reitman. I’ll never forget trailing him home one night back in the days when I was still invited to parties and drunkenly telling him what a great filmmaker he was. You can’t wash off the shame.

But he done good. I would not bullshit you. I am fresh out of bullshit, as you can see. I thought Saturday Night would not be good, based on the trailer. And for the first two thirds I didn’t really laugh much. But at some point I was caught up in the drama of getting it all ready for that 11:30 deadline and it just got better and funnier until the very last moment. It might be Reitman’s best film. If not his best, it’s certainly up there with his best.

It should sail to a Best Picture nomination, along with Editing, Screenplay, and Costumes at a minimum.  Maybe even Best Director. Reitman lived through one of the most embarassing Oscar moments when he won every single award a writer could win heading into Oscar night only to lose the final award. But that was a long time ago, 2009. Whatever might have haunted him then has long since vanished. His creative spirit is back. And he has no f*cks to give.

So far, all three films I’ve seen at Telluride have been top-shelf Best Picture contenders. Will all three of them get in? Stay tunes. I’ll be looking at that history when I write up the 2025 Oscar predictions column. I still have a few movies to see before I do that.