If you watch only one documentary about the making of “Saturday Night Live,” then let’s be honest, you probably already did that by now. Morgan Neville’s generic new one, “Lorne,” doesn’t have much to offer fans who already bought the books, read the articles, or watched last year’s “SNL50: Beyond Saturday Night” docuseries. It actually offers a lot less, conveying some of the same information with neither insightful commentary nor critique.
“Lorne” tells the story of “SNL” creator Lorne Michaels, a figure Neville tries to present as a man of mystery who stays out of the spotlight, but who is also one of the most famous, publicly disseminated TV producers in history, who often appears on his own program to solidify his position as the one, consistent face of the iconic comedy franchise. Michaels doesn’t talk much about his personal life in the press, but he doesn’t talk about it much in “Lorne” either, so most of Neville’s doc features interviews with comedians speculating on information that, by all rights, Neville should probably be able to present in more detail.
Neville’s documentary covers Lorne Michaels’ rise from a minor comedic figure to the creator of one of the most enduring TV programs in history, including his relatively-brief break from the program and his not-so-triumphant return. New triumphs are catalogued shortly afterwards, however, because “Lorne” refuses to focus on any criticism of Michaels or his program. Which is odd, since even NBC’s self-congratulatory “SNL50” made room for his employees and ex-employees to criticize Michaels’ creative decisions, singling out his weekly meetings — where “SNL” writers sit on his floor and pitch ideas to the latest celebrity guest — as creatively fruitless and condescending to the staff. But to hear “Lorne” tell it, those same meetings are beloved traditions. No naysaying or nuance detected.
The few interesting tidbits we get about Lorne Michaels range from amusing — many of the most infamous so-called “facts” about his life were invented, as a joke, by his personal friend Paul Simon — to underwhelming. Michaels owns a blueberry farm where he retreats whenever “Saturday Night Live” isn’t filming. Surely this is blowing your mind. He also grows daffodils, a morsel of trivia Morgan Neville strains so hard to transform into a poetic metaphor for the producer’s career that this film nearly pops a blood vessel.
Morgan Neville is one of the most prominent documentarians working today. He built his impressive career on biographical films about famous artists, but he does his most interesting work when he pushes the boundaries of the form. His Oscar-winning “20 Feet from Stardom” used conventional bio-documentary techniques to venerate the music industry’s most overlooked and underappreciated backup singers. His playful “Piece by Piece” transformed superstar musician Pharrell Williams’ life into a whimsical LEGO movie, using a childlike animated style to get away with telling Williams’ story with kid gloves.
With “Lorne,” Neville doesn’t have any opportunities to experiment, or even just play. Animated segments dramatize Michaels’ early foibles, in the style of the old “TV Funhouse” sketches from “SNL.” But that decision is functional, not illuminating. The majority of “Lorne” is just talking head interviews from comedians who worked on “Saturday Night Live” and don’t have anything particularly negative to say about the experience. It’s a love letter to a TV producer who already gets a lot of love.
If you’re a big enough “SNL” fan to watch this documentary, but not a big enough fan to read any of the articles and books that preceded it, or watch any of the other documentaries, or even Jason Reitman’s 2024 biopic “Saturday Night,” you might get something out of it. But the target demographic for “Lorne” is “SNL” fans who won’t benefit from a documentary like “Lorne.”
“Lorne” will be released exclusively in theaters on April 17.
