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Anniversary

by Hope Madden

Jan Komasa’s political thriller Anniversary certainly boasts an impressive cast. Diane Lane leads the film as Ellen Taylor, a Georgetown professor celebrating her 25th wedding anniversary to renowned DC chef, Paul (Kyle Chandler).

Their four children will be there: high schooler Birdie (Mckenna Grace), famous comic Anna (Madeline Brewer), environmental lawyer Cynthia (Zoey Deutch) and her husband (Daryl McCormack), and beloved son who never made much of himself, Josh (Dylan O’Brien). Plus, Josh brought new girlfriend, Liz (Phoebe Dynevor). That one can’t be trusted.

Komasa crafts a “they have it all” opening to prepare us for the inevitable downfall. Ellen and Paul truly love each other, and their bickering kids love them and each other as well. But there’s an invasive species at their garden party, and no matter how strong Ellen believes her family to be, bad stuff is coming.

To the film’s credit, Lori Rosene-Gambino’s script is no pulpy thriller about a vixen corrupting a family. True to the filmmaker’s previous output (Corpus Cristi, Suicide Room), Anniversary dives into the large scale and intimate damage one persuasive but errant prophet can do.

Liz has a belief system encapsulated in her new book, “The Change.” It advocates that the people, passionate and unified, step beyond this broken democracy and create a single party that will redefine the country’s future. What transpires between Ellen and Paul’s 25th and 30th anniversary parties is a debilitatingly likely image of America’s near future.

The ensemble works wonders with slightly written characters. Komasa and Rosene-Gambino outline the insidious evolution with clarity, but the tale is too superficial to mean much. It’s a very talky script, yet very few questions are answered. Anniversary is entirely vague on the actual philosophy of “The Change”, making it tough know what people cling to and what the Taylors reject.

Worse, character arcs exist exclusively to further the plot. Deutch bears the worst of this, but everything in the film—especially the character development—is tell, don’t show. Aside from O’Brien’s, no arc is character driven. Each is plot driven and some are absurd.

Dynevor fares best, carving out a memorable, broken antagonist, a delicate survivor not to be trusted. She and Lane are formidable as antagonist and protagonist, but Anniversary doesn’t know exactly what to do with them.

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Saturday Night

by Hope Madden

Saturday Night Live has been on the air for 50 years. That is insane. Most people alive today in the U.S. cannot remember a time before SNL. But Jason Reitman wants you to recall that it wasn’t supposed to work, that it had no business working, and that whatever it is today, it once was an absolute cultural explosion.

Reitman, who directs and co-writes with his Ghostbusters collaborator Gil Kenan, delivers such chaotic energy that you almost forget there is a script. The choreography of longtime collaborator Eric Steelberg’s camera emphasizes the film’s livewire atmosphere, but the fact that Saturday Night pulls off this kind of frenetic lawlessness bears witness to Reitman’s mastery of his craft.

At the center of the whirlwind is Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LaBelle, The Fabelmans and Snack Shack). NBC doesn’t really expect this “not ready for prime time” experiment to work. At all. And based on the anarchy leading up to showtime, you wonder yourself, even though we already know the outcome.

LaBelle—an undeniable talent at this point—easily anchors the film with a vulnerability, kindness and optimism that makes Michaels hard to root against but almost as hard to believe in. That conflict is necessary for the film to build any real tension or make any meaningful connection, and LaBelle humanizes the madness.

He’s surrounded by a massive ensemble that impresses with every turn. Reitman chooses to highlight certain personalities you may not expect—Chevy Chase (Cory Michael Smith), sure, but also a show-stealing Garrett Morris (Lamorne Morris, exceptional). Dylan O’Brien (as Dan Aykroyd), Rachel Sennott (as head writer Rosie Shuster), Cooper Hoffman (as producer Dick Ebersol) and Tommy Dewey (as caustic comedy genius Michael O’Donoghue) are particular stand outs. But the J.K. Simmons cameo as Mr. Television Milton Berle is priceless.

At its heart, Saturday Night fits into that tried-and-true “let’s put on a show” picture, but it’s the remarkable way Reitman captures the cultural shift this program marked that leaves a lasting impression.

Saturday Night also bursts with laugh-out-loud moments, little triumphs, fascinating callbacks and infectious energy. It can be hard to see today’s SNL in this riotous recollection, but there’s real history in these 90 minutes—and so much cocaine. History rarely looked like this much fun.