OK, what movie has dazzling cinematography, contains at least two supporting performances that could easily be nominated for Oscars and came and went so fast that almost no one saw it? Yes, if you read the title here, it’s a movie called Saturday Night.

(To those who wondered where I’ve been, I’ve been busy helping direct a stage version of Beauty and the Beast, plus traveling, plus helping with a The Sound of Music stage presentation, plus working with a dear friend on a serious musical theater production we’re creating based on an Old Testament book. Plus, you know, life.)

My dear brother, Chris who had already seen Saturday Night, convinced me it was worth the look, and he has always been right. The film is very enjoyable, if unnecessarily crude, and it fell out of my head 24 hours after seeing it.

Basically, it’s a story that condenses the first year of “Saturday Night Live” into a 90-minute series of calamities, missing persons, narcissistic fits, and producer trouble. If you’ve seen Birdman, or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), you’ll recognize the similarity in the camerawork, which features a roving camera that helped catch the energy and the attempted confluence of ideas and personalities that eventually made up the TV show. Unlike Birdman, however, there are cuts similar to most films, so it’s not quite the experiment that works. Instead, it’s a legitimate approach as part of a film to capturing the chaos of last-minute rehearsals for a show with wildly divergent personalities—and that might be replaced at the last minute by Johnny. Carson reruns.

Director Jason Reitman (Up in the Air, Juno, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, and a slew of lesser and less successful films) keeps things moving at an almost exhausting (with the exception of a not-true section that allows us to take a breath.) The language is typically rude, vulgar, suggestive, earthy, indecent, and lewd, and including a “wish I could unsee that” joke about the infamous Milton Berle that didn’t need to be addressed except in a casual verbal reference.

But…depending on one’s history with the show, it was a delight to see the various new personalities/actors playing the comic legends. Producer/writer Lorne Michaels comes off as “calm in the storm,” yet internalizing the conflicts around him. Chevy Chase comes off as a jerk, and Nicolas Braun is hysterically funny in his few moments as Andy Kaufman. Lamorne Morris (no relation to his character) comes off a whiny and borderline obnoxious Garrett Morris. Standouts are LaBelle as Michaels, and stealing the show, Matt Wood as John Belushi. If this film were successful financially, Oscar nominations would be possible for several performers. But…it’s not been, so, no.

The film is occasionally dazzling in its energy, its camerawork, and its parade of one bonkers happening one after another. But as noted, I’d pretty much forgotten it 24 hours later. Plus, it’s hard tp recommend based on its language and sexual crudeness. Definitely not for young ones, or teenagers, even.

I hope I’m wrong come Oscar time….