Lorne.

Directed by Morgan Neville, Lorne. details the life and times of Saturday Night Live creator Lorne Michaels. Filmmaker Neville delivers a rather surface-level yet perpetually watchable endeavor that benefits from its recurring inclusion of behind-the-scenes footage and raft of entertaining interviews, with, in terms of the latter, Neville garnering engaging (and frequently laugh-out-loud funny) sound bites from such notable comedians (and SNL alums) as Bill Hader, Chevy Chase, Tina Fey, John Mulaney, and Kristen Wiig. There’s little doubt, then, that Michaels’ reluctance to discuss his personal life never becomes quite as problematic (or noticeable) as one might’ve feared, although, by that same token, it’s hard to deny that Lorne. does begin to wear out its welcome as it passes the hour-and-a-half mark (ie the movie probably should’ve topped out at around 90 minutes). Still, Lorne. is, by and large, a decent-enough documentary that’s compelling enough to work for both SNL fanatics and neophytes.

*** out of ****