Mr. Saturday Night

This article is about a film. For the Family Guy episode, see Mr. Saturday Knight. For the Lynyrd Skynyrd song which contains the phrase "Mr. Saturday Night" in the lyrics, see Saturday Night Special (Lynyrd Skynyrd song).

Mr. Saturday Night

Directed by	Billy Crystal
Produced by	Billy Crystal
Written by	Billy Crystal Babaloo Mandel Lowell Ganz
Starring	Billy Crystal David Paymer Julie Warner Helen Hunt Ron Silver
Production company	Castle Rock Entertainment New Line Cinema
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release dates	September 23, 1992 (1992-09-23)
Running time	119 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$43 million
Box office	$13.3 million

Mr. Saturday Night is a 1992 comedy-drama film that marks the directorial debut of its star, Billy Crystal.

It focuses on the rise and fall of Buddy Young Jr., a stand-up comedian. Crystal produced and co-wrote the screenplay with the writing duo Babaloo Mandel and Lowell Ganz. It was filmed from November 1991 to March 1992 and released on September 23, 1992, by Columbia Pictures.

Co-star David Paymer received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

The opening title sequence was designed by Elaine and Saul Bass.

The film is based on the Saturday Night Live Weekend Update sketch where Billy Crystal plays Buddy Young Jr. reviewing a restaurant he went to.

Plot

Mr. Saturday Night details how stand-up comedian Buddy Young Jr. became a television star, with the help of his brother and manager, Stan, but alienated many of those closest to him once his career began to fade.

Through a series of flashbacks, the brothers are seen during childhood entertaining their family in the living room. The older Buddy continues his career as a comic in the Catskills, where he meets his future wife, Elaine.

Buddy's fame grows, as does his ego. He hits the big time with his own Saturday night television show. But over the warnings of his brother, Buddy uses offensive material on the air, costing him his show and beginning his career slide.

As an older man, long past his prime, Buddy is estranged from Stan as well as from his daughter, Susan. A chance at redemption comes when a young agent named Annie Wells finds him work and even gets Buddy a shot at a role in a top director's new film. Buddy nevertheless gives into his own self-destructive nature, continuing to take its toll on the comic's relationships with his family.

Cast

Billy Crystal as Buddy Young, Jr.
David Paymer as Stan Young
Julie Warner as Elaine Young
Helen Hunt as Annie Wells
Jerry Orbach as Phil Gussman
Ron Silver as Larry Meyerson
Mary Mara as Susan Young
Jerry Lewis as Himself

Reception

The film received mixed reviews from critics. It holds a 56% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 25 reviews with the consensus stating: "Billy Crystal's flawed directorial debut can't seem to decide whether it wants the viewer to love its protagonist or hate him, but it features fine work from Crystal and his co-stars".

Box office

The film was a box office bomb in the United states, only recovering half of its budget.^[1] According to boxofficemojo.com it grossed less than $14 million.

Awards

Paymer was nominated in 1992 for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance. At the Golden Globe Awards, Paymer was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture and Crystal was nominated for Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy.

During the Academy Awards the next year, Crystal hosted. When announcing the nominees for Best Film of 1992 during the opening, Crystal added his movie to the list, immediately afterwards adding the line, "I just wanted to see how it feels."