Floyd (Luke Paspalas) is just going through the motions of life. He writes, he hangs out with friends, he comes home–then he does it all over again. One Saturday night, however, he finds himself in a unique situation, one in which the reality of his life is questioned and he has the opportunity to make changes. Saturday Night Inside Out is his story, and the story of millions of others around the world.
As much as I wanted to feel the emotion, as much as I wanted these characters to resonate with me–the acting is flat, and the emotion is effectively lost somewhere, never making its way to viewers.
Well, almost never. There are slivers of hope present throughout Saturday Night Inside Out, and there are short blips of emotion that fill the screen and reach out and touch viewers–and those moments are often between Sophie Morrison (Joanna) and Paspalas. They have a chemistry that allows each of them to shine, that allows the dialogue to resonate with viewers just a little bit more. While those instances are few and far between, they are powerful, and they are an opportunity for viewers to feel the intended meaning present in Writer-Director Connor McBride’s film.
Saturday Night Inside Out is plagued by cheesy stereotypes that are far too cliche to be entertaining; however, I think the casting for these roles is brilliant. Again, the acting falls flat, and that makes it challenging for viewers to appreciate the emotional potential, but seeing people that look familiar, that look like people we know allows them to resonate with us to a degree. The lack of emotion almost feels like there are holes present throughout the course of Saturday Night Inside Out, and with familiar faces playing the roles of these stereotypes I was able to fill in the blanks on my own and develop something of a connection to the film. With that being said, I’m not sure that McBride intended for his viewers to have to play this role, and being forced to do so strains the relationship between viewer and film to a degree.
While I’m not sure that McBride intended this next bit from his film, I think it works in the film’s favor. In the scenes with dance music and slowed-down dancing, viewers are almost transported to another world. These scenes could be described as magical realism because, while we are still present in the real world, we are provided such a euphoric feeling–allowing Saturday Night Inside Out to appeal to us in ways that it’s otherwise unable. I felt larger than life in these moments, and much like the conversations between Floyd and Joanna, these are the times that viewers are able to enter the film, feel something, and ultimately love what they are watching.
Saturday Night Inside Out exists on the cusp of emotional greatness, with the potential to, if the acting had been better, resonated with viewers from all walks of life. However, with the acting falling flat and the film ultimately plagued by an emotional void, it can’t develop in the way that this team would have hoped. There are moments in which Saturday Night Inside Out reaches its viewers, appeals to them in an emotional fashion–but they aren’t as prominent as they needed to be in order for this film to be great. I enjoy and appreciate the sentiment behind the film, and I love what McBride attempted to do with this film–and, in some ways, that’s enough to provide Saturday Night Inside Out some success.
Written & Directed by Connor McBride.
Starring Luke Paspalas, Alexandra Miller, Zach Bradley, Michael Hyatt, Sonya Ward, Sean Michael Williams, Sophie Morrison, etc.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐½/10
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