In a sentenceEveryone who has ever been frightened of him says lovely things about him for 101 minutes
Morgan Neville’s documentary sets out to explain Lorne Michaels, the producer who created Saturday Night Live in 1975 and still runs it. Michaels appears as himself, unhurried and courteous, while Neville puts the people who have worked for him in front of the camera to describe what that is like. Steve Higgins, the show’s announcer and one of its producers, Michael Che and Colin Jost of the Weekend Update desk, and Tom Schiller, a writer from the first seasons, offer their versions. Paul Simon speaks as a friend of fifty years and James Andrew Miller as the man who has heard every story. Timothée Chalamet, John Mulaney, Adam Sandler, Kenan Thompson and Paula Pell fill in the rest.
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Morgan Neville’s portrait of the man who has run Saturday Night Live since 1975 is well made, good company and almost entirely on its subject’s terms. Fans will enjoy the clips; anyone hoping to learn something new will leave as they arrived.
Morgan Neville has made a film about Lorne Michaels, the producer who created Saturday Night Live in 1975 and, apart from a gap in the early eighties, has run it ever since. The title is one word and the tagline is “The legend behind the legends”, and that is about the level of inquiry. Lorne is 101 minutes of well-turned, good-humoured company that never once makes its subject uncomfortable. It is pleasant. We wanted more than pleasant.
The method is the usual one. Neville puts the people who know Michaels in front of Graham Willoughby’s camera, in tidy, warmly lit interiors, and lets them try to describe him. Steve Higgins, the show’s announcer and one of its producers, is on hand, as are Michael Che and Colin Jost from the Weekend Update desk, and Tom Schiller, who wrote for the show in its first years. Paul Simon speaks as a friend of half a century. James Andrew Miller speaks as the man who has already collected every anecdote in the building. Timothée Chalamet, John Mulaney, Adam Sandler, Kenan Thompson and Paula Pell fill in the rest, and they are all fond of him, and they all agree with one another.
That is the trouble, but the fondness is enjoyable while it lasts. The best material is the working detail: a show that goes out live at 11.30 on Saturday whatever state it is in, and a man who has kept that appointment for most of his adult life. Jake Hostetter and Alan Lowe, who edit and share the writing credit with Neville, move between archive and the present-day interviews with a light hand, and they know how long to hold a clip. Darian Sahanaja’s music stays out of the way, which in a film about comedy is a kindness. We laughed, properly, several times, and then noticed that every laugh had come from a clip and not from anything the film had found for itself.
What the film has not found is anyone willing to say a hard thing. Michaels is on screen a good deal, courteous and dry and unhurried, and Neville lets him set the terms. Fifty years of ex-writers have told stories about him, and there are books of them; a film about the man either takes those stories on or leaves them out, and this one leaves them out. The famous coolness is mentioned as a quirk. The question of why one person has decided what is funny on American television since 1975 is asked, when it is asked at all, as a compliment. Around the hour mark we found ourselves restless, waiting for a follow-up question that never came.
Against Neville’s own record this is a step down. 20 Feet from Stardom (2013) and Won’t You Be My Neighbor? (2018) both took people we thought we understood and found the strain underneath. Here the surface is all we get. Michaels has spent his career being unreadable, and either that defeated Neville or persuaded him not to try. It is a film about the man who decides what makes the cut, and he seems to have decided about this too.
If you love the show, you will have a good evening; the clips are well chosen, the talkers are quick, and Sandler and Mulaney in particular are worth hearing. If you have read any of the books about the show, you already know nearly all of it. Watch it at home, where its chattiness suits a sofa and a drink, and be ready for the credits to arrive before anyone has said what they actually think of him.
The reviews lean mildly positive, and nearly all of them reach for the same word: entertaining. Most critics find Morgan Neville’s documentary light on its feet and enjoyable, and the warmest, Variety, calls it playful and revealing about the man behind the curtain. The praise clusters on the tone, on the parade of associates offering small insights, and on the portrait of Michaels as the steady hand who has kept Saturday Night Live from drifting into irrelevance.
The reservation is shared almost as widely: the film is too respectful of its subject. Several critics call it surface-deep, a puff piece that never presses Michaels or gets far past what long-time fans already know. RogerEbert.com faults it for sidestepping the show’s reputation as a difficult workplace, and The Wrap goes furthest, finding it generic and unilluminating. The spread is wide, from warm to dismissive, and the dividing line is how much anyone expected the film to interrogate him.
It is a puckishly delightful and revealing movie that filters familiar SNL backstage details through a teasing, playful portrait of the enigmatic man behind the curtain.
Read the full review →The review describes the documentary as lightweight, focusing on how difficult it is to truly capture Lorne Michaels while portraying him as the last true guardian of traditional show business. It notes the film's emphasis on Michaels' enigmatic nature and dedication to SNL.
Read the full review →The film does not deeply unravel the inscrutable Michaels but remains enjoyable, offering bite-size insights from associates while portraying him as a stable force shielding SNL from irrelevance.
Read the full review →The critic calls the film an entertaining but overly reverential and surface-deep portrait of Lorne Michaels, more amiable puff piece than insightful documentary. It praises the fun and light-footed approach while faulting the lack of new depth or interrogation of its subject.
Read the full review →The documentary is entertaining and well-produced but overly respectful and promotional, sidestepping critical topics like toxic work environments and resulting in a pro forma tone that disappoints hardcore fans.
Read the full review →The critic finds Morgan Neville’s documentary generic and unilluminating, offering little new information or insight beyond what SNL fans already know from books, articles, and prior docs. It avoids any criticism of its subject and functions mainly as an uncritical love letter.
Read the full review →
Live from New York! · not reviewed yetThe show itself, rather than the man, given a brisk fortieth-birthday going-over.
Won't You Be My Neighbor?Neville on a gentler television institution, and this time he finds the strain underneath.
Saturday NightJason Reitman dramatises the ninety minutes before the first broadcast; loud, nervous, fun.
Comedian · not reviewed yetJerry Seinfeld builds an act from nothing; the fear of a silent crowd, up close.
The September Issue · not reviewed yetAnother unreadable boss with absolute power, and a film willing to watch her wield it.
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