In precisely 90 minutes, NBC’s Saturday Night (or, as we now know it, Saturday Night Live) will be broadcast live for the very first time. The cast members are fighting, the crew is revolting, and the studio is, at best, indifferent to the success of this ambitious sketch comedy show, and, at worst, actively hoping its failure will speed up negotiations with The Tonight Show host Johnny Carson. In a raucous real-time thriller, director Jason Reitman lovingly captures the chaos that a charming troupe of misfits and no-name comedians conquered to revolutionize television forever.

Co-written by Reitman and his Ghostbusters collaborator Gil Kenan, Saturday Night’s script draws from interviews conducted by the filmmakers with the surviving cast and crew to paint as accurate a portrait as possible of SNL’s first night. By their own admission, the filmmakers received many conflicting accounts of this hallowed evening, likely explaining the cacophonous feel of the film. The sheer amount of commotion that cinematographer Eric Steelberg captures with his Steadicam compositions (in enchantingly retro 16mm, no less) is commendable, while composer Jon Batiste – pulling double duty as he also portrays Billy Preston in the film – keeps the production humming along with his lively score.

Reitman assembles an impressive ensemble of future Hollywood talent to portray the storied SNL founders. The Fabelmans star Gabriel LaBelle – whose stock I’m quite bullish on – convincingly embodies Lorne Michaels, despite being nearly a decade younger than Michaels was at the show’s inception. Constantly pestering Michaels about the identity of the show and its advertising potential is producer Dick Ebersol, played by Cooper Hoffman, star of Licorice Pizza and son of legendary actor Philip Seymour Hoffman. Among the many problems Michaels must solve within the next hour and a half is convincing his soon-to-be ex-wife and current staff writer, Rosie Shuster (the hilarious and ultra-talented Rachel Sennott), to decide which last name she wants in the show’s credits. While Michaels awkwardly navigates his lingering feelings for Shuster, another writer, Michael O’Donoghue (Tommy Dewey), torments the network censor (Catherine Curtin), who keeps interfering with his attempts to slip vulgar innuendos into the sketches.

Meanwhile, John Belushi (Matt Wood), who has yet to sign his talent agreement, takes issue with the bee costume he’s being asked to wear for a sketch, as well as the request that he shave his beard. Belushi clashes with fellow cast member Chevy Chase (portrayed by Gotham star Cory Michael Smith), whose girlfriend Jacqueline Carlin (Cindy Crawford’s daughter, Kaia Gerber) draws almost as much attention as her brash beau. Then there’s Dan Aykroyd (teen heartthrob Dylan O’Brien), who is more nervous about wearing hot pants for a sketch in which he is catcalled by the female cast than he is about openly flirting with his boss’s estranged lover.

Kim Matula, Emily Fairn, Gabriel LaBelle, Rachel Sennott, and Matt Wood in 'Saturday Night' Columbia Pictures via MovieStillsDB

The cameos pile up as quickly as the cocaine is snorted away in this drug-fueled race against the clock. Stranger Things star Finn Wolfhard makes a brief appearance as an NBC page struggling to give away free tickets to SNL’s opening night, while last year’s No Hard Feelings breakout Andrew Barth Feldman plays a talent coordinator who wigs out after being given way-too-strong weed. In one of the film’s most engaging scenes, J.K. Simmons portrays Milton Berle – inspired to check out the competition after Michaels poached a lighting technician from Berle’s show – engaging in a literal dick measuring contest with Chevy Chase. Succession’s Nicholas Braun is also in attendance, playing legendary puppeteer Jim Henson, who is frustrated by the cast’s lack of respect for his creations. Braun also steps into the role of eccentric comedy legend Andy Kaufman after Benny Safdie, the original actor cast for the role, had to drop out due to scheduling conflicts.

Of the many characters and plotlines that Saturday Night juggles, perhaps the most poignant is that of Garrett Morris, played by New Girl star Lamorne Morris (no relation). Garrett Morris is perplexed by his inclusion in the show, as he feels his talents as a classically trained actor and opera singer are wasted in the culturally insensitive roles he’s been assigned. Morris finds camaraderie with the show’s band, and his musical performance to convince a skeptical, domineering network executive (Willem Dafoe as David Tebet) of the show’s value is both sidesplitting and touching.

Sprinkle in Ella Hunt as Gilda Radner, Emily Fairn as Laraine Newman, Kim Matula as Jane Curtin, and a hysterical George Carlin impersonation from Matthew Rhys, and the cast of Saturday Night is complete, give or take a few minor oversights caused by sensory overload. Though despite its breakneck pace and frantic tone, Saturday Night struggles to communicate the high stakes it attempts to depict – after all, we know Saturday Night Live was a success. No amount of Milton Berle dressing down Chevy Chase will change the fact that Chase's legacy is secure in the minds of a modern audience, though it may hint at the origins of the chip Chase carried on his shoulder throughout his career.

Moreover, there is a compelling argument to be made that SNL’s cultural relevance has never been lower. Sure, the occasional sketch might capture the pop culture zeitgeist, but the consensus among younger audiences is that the best comedic talents are skipping the antiquated SNL-to-sitcom pipeline in favor of more direct-to-consumer avenues like YouTube, where they have full creative control. This raises the inescapable question: who is this movie made for? The cynical answer: Saturday Night is catnip for boomers who were raised on SNL and have a deep emotional connection to its original cast.

That said, Saturday Night can still be enjoyable even for those who haven’t pored over every book about the making of the show. As someone with almost no emotional connection to Saturday Night Live, but a deep respect for the way it has shaped comedy over nearly half a century, I found myself engrossed in the story of Lorne Michaels wrangling his collection of stray outsiders for a creative project unlike anything the world had ever seen. Though Saturday Night aspires to be a pulse-pounding comic thriller, it ultimately proves to be a breezy, rib-tickling showcase of new Hollywood talent with a sugary sweet story about overcoming the odds – and that’s just as delightful.

Saturday Night opens in limited theatrical release in Los Angeles, New York City, and Toronto on September 27, 2024, before expanding to more cities on October 4 and finally going nationwide on October 11 – 49 years to the day that SNL premiered on NBC.