'Live From New York' not what 'SNL' fans deserve
<b>Mini-review: 'Live From New York!'</b>
You'd think that Bao Nguyen's documentary "Live From New York!" might offer up some deep insights and surprising revelations while whisking us through 40 years of Lorne Michael's iconic NBC comedy series "Saturday Night Live."
Not really.
For viewers satisfied with a cursory and nostalgic examination of the "SNL" phenomenon, "Live From New York!" fills the bill. Many funny bits from the series archives get dusted off for earned laughs.
But this meandering, unfocused doc never asks the tough questions and doesn't tell ardent fans much more than most probably already know. Plus, there's big disappointment in the conspicuous absences in the movie's celebrity guests: Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd.
"Live From New York!" - fittingly described as a combo of "60 Minutes" and "Monty Python's Flying Circus" - begins with screen tests of the show's soon-to-be stars, among them Murray, Wheaton native John Belushi and Gilda Radner.
A parade of politicians, network TV anchors, "SNL" writers, musical guests, hosts and alums follows with what can be charitably called a freight train of sound bites, some of them pithy, others a waste of video.
"I remember Roseanne Rosannadanna!" political commentator Bill O'Reilly burbles. "That was a fabulous, fabulous thing that Gilda created!" Thanks, Captain Obvious.
Most directors would have cut this unenlightening contribution, but Nguyen seems enamored with celebrity commentators. So he stuffs as many as he can into 90 minutes, even disgraced newsman Brian Williams revealing that live TV can be unpredictable. Really?
The doc laments how "antiquated" the "Weekend Update" news segment has become because "nobody does the news like that anymore." Fair enough, but the Update still proves relevant because of its subjects, not format.
Nguyen delves into how the show targeted sexism and racism, yet was itself a practitioner of those "isms" in the early years, with white males in the limelight.
Candice Bergen reminds us she became the show's first female host, a week after the proposed Equal Rights Amendment died. Jane Curtin openly states the show has a "diversity problem."
The doc hits us with "SNL's" most memorable moments - the post 9/11 show, Sinead O'Conner ripping up a photo of the Pope - most of them without needed context.
"SNL" fans will appreciate "Live From New York!" for its trip down nostalgia street. And for recognizing the amazing work the cast and crew has done to pull off a 90-minute live show every week.
"We went on not because we were prepared," a member says, "but because it was 11:30!" (Make that 10:30 central.)
"Live From New York!" opens at the Century Centre in Chicago. Not rated. 90 minutes. ★ ★ ½