Saturday Night Screw-Up: “Saturday Night,” retelling the events of the show’s origin fails to learn from the mistake of the past

“Saturday Night,” a fictionalized movie account of the hectic 90 minutes before the first episode of “Saturday Night Live” aired in 1975, attempts to capture the casts’ rebellious attitude and the 70’s pop culture shift that led to the show’s popularity.

But much like SNL’s summer reruns, “Saturday Night” only provides popcorn entertainment and comedy that won’t age well.

Directed by Jason Reitman, the comedy premiered in theaters on Oct. 11, the 49th anniversary of the SNL pilot episode.

Set in the chaotic atmosphere of 30 Rockefeller Center, this loose adaptation of pop culture history follows a young Lorne Michaels, played by Gabriel Lebelle, as he struggles to produce “SNL.” The film’s style of long-shot scenes is also a stark contrast to the SNL skits themselves.

With a breezy 109 minute run-time, the film is shorter than most you see in theaters today. This leads the film feeling rushed at times, jumping between characters so quickly that no one becomes fully fleshed out. Ultimately the cast appears as caricatures instead of the real people that they’re based on.

The film follows the show’s producers attempting to keep NBC’s board, led by a stoic Willem Dafoe, from pulling the plug minutes before performing live television and going to a rerun of “The Johnny Carson Show” at the first sign of trouble.

At its core, the story full of fabricated events has no deeper meaning — and like most of the show’s sketches, the comedy misses the mark more often than not.

The writing does include a few impactful interactions between the original cast members of “SNL.” But, the dialogue feels forced at times and the one-liners shared in abundance by the young comedians feel directed to the middle-aged man-children who grew up watching the show, full of unrelatable references meant purely for nostalgia.

The film’s portrayal of the original cast members manages to capture the uncertainty of a group that had never made television. Whether it was Garrett Morris questioning why they hired an opera singer, John Belushi’s reluctance to perform on live TV or Chevy Chase’s dream to have a talk show, these surface-level subplots feel unnecessary in an overly complicated comedy.

The few bright spots come from the witty dialogue and the standout performance of cast member Dan Aykroyd and writer Rosie Shuster, played by Dylan O’Brien and Rachel Sennott respectively. These two absolutely nail the characters’ voice and mannerisms, even without much screen time.

But Lorne Michael’s constant problems keeping the show on track are a vacuum for the film, taking attention away from the serious issues on set. This included the cast members’ extreme drug abuse, relentless sexual harassment and an abusive writer’s room environment.

This inattention to these serious issues highlights the nature of early “SNL,” succeeding by making the cast play into stereotypes, something the show certainly excelled in. The movie smartly evades addressing this issue for an audience that would rip it apart online as I am now.

It also raises relevant questions on whether the show “SNL,” which has a famously terrible record when it comes to addressing important cultural issues like racism and gender equality over its 50-year history, could own up to its mistakes.

But the director gives up no answers, focusing on creating fun scenes that may have never even happened in the low-stakes film.

While “Saturday Night” ends in the blink of an eye, for those who take a moment to process the insanity on screen, the film’s gaping omissions are evident and keep it from having a lasting impact.