I expected to like Lorne. The director is Morgan Neville. The subject’s usual elusivity would seem to make him intriguing. And all of last year’s plethora of Saturday Night Live documentaries and specials were better than they needed to be. But Lorne is probably my least favorite Neville documentary besides the second half of Steve! (Martin): A Documentary in 2 Pieces. I can’t blame Neville for this. He clearly gave it his all. He even tried to make it fun and occasionally meta. When covering Lorne Michaels’s life in the 1960s, he has (aptly cast) narrator Chris Parnell explain that, as required, the ‘60s segment of this one begins with the obligatory clips of the Vietnam War and hippies. As someone who has seen a lot of documentaries about that era, I appreciate the joke.
The problem is that Michaels is not that interesting. It’s not just that he’s elusive and that Neville can’t seem to crack the nut here (it’s not The Unknown Known). Michaels realizes this. He confesses that there’s no “Rosebud” mystery to his life (though he does answer the question of what his “Rosebud” would be if he had one, and it’s so perfectly unremarkable that I guess that says something). A scant few interesting stories are shared, mostly by longtime pal Paul Simon (who knew that “Graceland” was partly based on a trip he made with Michaels?), but most of the expected roster of talking heads have little insight into the man. Especially outside his work on Saturday Night Live, none of which feels new after all the coverage the show got for its 50th anniversary last year.
Maybe I’m just tired of these documentary profiles that aren’t at least verite records of a moment. Similar to the Steve! piece, there’s too much talking to the director and acknowledgment of the film crew as it’s being made, not enough actual storytelling. But with Michaels, that wouldn’t be very entertaining. It’s said in the film that he’s a great producer because he leaves no fingerprints behind. It’d be like watching ghosts and empties, if you understand the reference to what I’m now pretending is a lyric referencing Michaels. His legacy is not here; his legacy is just the show. I’ll give Lorne something, though: there’s a great bit with Jimmy Fallon feeling vindicated that any fan of Saturday Night Live needs to see.