SNL Movies vs. Actors

So, as most of you movie watchers know, the newest Saturday Night Live (SNL) movie, MacGruber, opened in theaters today. When I first saw the trailer for this I thought, "Hey, this is a pretty good idea. Not much on SNL makes me laugh like back in the day, but this skit always does." Then after seeing it a couple more times my thoughts turned to, "I hope these aren't the funniest parts," and "SNL doesn't have the best track record for movies."

Well, by the looks of the reviews already coming out, I'm thinking it's probably not worth my time & money to go see it at the theater. What is it about SNL movies that don't transition well from the small screen to the big screen? A big facto,r of course, is time. A five minute skit can be hilarious, but keeping that momentum going for 2 hours can be tough.

Some people think it takes a lot to make a dramatic film work. While I'm definitely not arguing that, I think it takes an awful lot to make a comedy really work. I mean, can you think of any really good SNL movies besides Wayne's World & Blues Brothers. Ok, so I'm partial to Night at the Roxbury, but it's not exactly in my top list of movies.

The actors that come out of SNL, however, that's a different story. This show is amazing for finding talented comedians/actors... Andy Kaufman, Chevy Chase, Dan Akroyd, Steve Martin, John Belushi, Gilda Radner, Jane Curtain, Billy Crystal, Mike Meyers, Dana Carvey, Eddie Murphy, Martin Short, Janeane Garofalo, Phil Hartman, Chris Farley, Chris Rock, David Spade, Molly Shannon, Will Ferrell, Adam Sandler, Tina Fey... the list goes on (I'm sure I'm forgetting some). In fact, Will Ferrell is one of my all time favorite comedic actors. He left SNL & has made a number of really funny movies... Old School, Taladega Nights, Step Brothers, etc. They are so funny, that people go around quoting them.

All I know is that I hope SNL can continue (with the help of Lorne Michaels) to produce great talent... even if they don't produce great movies.