Josh Brolin Is Like The Son Of John Malkovich In A Weird, Silly & Musical Saturday Night Live
For the first half of this weekend's new episode of "Saturday Night Live," hosted by "No Country for Old Men" and "Dune" star Josh Brolin, I couldn't stop trying to pinpoint what other performer he was reminding me of, even across a few different sketches. At first, I thought it might have been former "SNL" cast member Al Franken, specifically because of the slightly effeminate way he was portraying a couple of characters. Then it hit me: Josh Brolin rich, deep voice and his slightly off-kilter delivery style felt like the offspring of John Malkovich. Because whenever the frequently villainous John Malkovich is speaking, he's pretty much always talking like John Malkovich. There might be a slight accent every now and then, but it's pretty much always Malkovich being Malkovich. And the same can be said for Josh Brolin.
The good news is that this trait mostly works in Brolin's favor in this third stint hosting "SNL." There's a somewhat odd cadence to Brolin's delivery that gives many of his characters a slight air of eccentricity, which can make certain sketches funnier than they otherwise might be. That felt like the case several times throughout the evening, and Brolin's enthusiasm helped ease some of the missed cues and awkward line readings that threw off the rhythm of sketches on numerous occasions.
What was the best sketch of the night?
Bank Robbery – What happens when a couple just trying to deposit some money in their bank account has their visit interrupted by a pair of bank robbers? Well, in the case of Josh Brolin and Heidi Gardner, they use it as an opportunity to explore their recently established open marriage. That means Gardner will say that she doesn't want to be manhandled by James Austin Johnson and Devon Walker as the not-so-masked bank robbers, but her quivering voice and body language say otherwise. The same can be said for Brolin, whose rules in the open marriage dealt with allowing him to do a lot of stuff with guys.
This is one of several sketches throughout the evening that could have been a full-fledged home run but ended up getting held back a bit by Brolin not being the most experienced with the live comedy setting of "SNL." But despite some instances of bad timing and early line readings, the sketch still landed rather firmly. Both Gardner and Brolin had a nervously flirtatious energy that washed over them in the perfect way, and watching the expressions on their faces as they "unwillingly" presented themselves to the robbers was hilarious. Bonus points for making Bowen Yang's character out to be a pervert who just wants to film it all, even though it wasn't his idea at all.
How was the rest of the episode?
If there was one other sketch that came close to being the best of the night, it's Shrimp Tower. Set in a "Downton Abbey" kind of high society in Vienna, 1893, this pre-taped sketch follows Brolin as a classy man who aims to impress the Archduchess with a massive display of shrimp. In fact, it's a shrimp tower. But Brolin may be much more preoccupied with the presentation of the shrimp than he is with actually impressing the Archduchess, which is why when she gets too close to touching the seafood structure, he pushes her directly out the window. The absurdity in the first half of the sketch was already a hit, but the escalation takes it to another level, especially as Brolin continually tries to keep the Archduchess from climbing back into the ballroom and potentially disrupting the shrimp tower. Good stuff!
As for the rest of the episode, it was packed with sketches. Weekend Update didn't feature any guests at the desk, and since it all clocked in under seven minutes, it made room for 10 total sketches, and only two of them were pre-recorded. That's partially why there were more live flubs than usual, with Brolin consistently stumbling here and there. But as I indicated before, because of Brolin's unique delivery, it didn't always derail the sketch. Instead, it mostly added a touch of peculiarity to the proceedings, sometimes enhancing the comedy. For example...
Feeling like a 10-to-1 sketch that arrived earlier in the night, this Wine and Cheese sketch almost feels like it comes from an alternate reality that is only just slightly askew from our own. That's largely thanks to the totally unrealistic cat that's at the center of this sketch. I have to believe that the props department knew this cat wasn't going to look realistic, and that has to be part of the gag. They could have easily used a much more realistic animatronic, even if the movements weren't going to look natural. But beyond that, this was the sketch where Brolin's Malkovich energy clicked for me, as he accused Tina of "blowing cheese smoke" into the chair cushion. It's just a shame the ending of this sketch is so awful, because it otherwise might have been truly great.
When it comes to sketches that end up being elevated by flubs, look no further than this Moulin Rouge inspired sketch. Honestly, I'm a little surprised that they didn't try to introduce this with Kenan Thompson's Reese DeWhat character, but maybe the innovative musical approach of "Moulin Rouge" is too contemporary to put under the fictional character's "Cinema Classics" purview. Anyway, what we get here is a rendition of the movie's famous "Elephant Love Medley," which features a mix of pop songs strung together in a romantic musical sequence. What the sketch imagines is an alternate version with a bunch of other songs clumsily added into the scene as well. Ariana Grande (the episode's musical guest) steps in to take a lead role alongside Bowen Yang, and the two break several times while trying to keep up with the songs. It's not a runaway success, but it's bolstered by these missteps. And I gotta say, I love that "One Week" psych-out towards the end. It's just a shame Josh Brolin didn't even try to impersonate Jim Broadbent's boisterous Harold Zidler.
Quickly running through the rest of the sketches, the People Pleaser Support Group was the kind of sketch that I would call "nice" or "amusing," but the premise was too thin to warrant a sketch that went on this long. Similarly, Airplane Song felt like the kind of sketch that didn't really need to be a musical sketch, and even though the 1980s-esque visuals that bring Michael Bolton to mind were a nice touch, the core of the sketch didn't feel strong enough to justify this kind of production value. Then we have Sandwich King, which made funny use of Billie Eilish's Oscar-nominated "Barbie" soundtrack song "What Was I Made For," but the stilted delivery and poor timing of the audio cue resulted in too many flubs to get any momentum going. That quick flashback montage somewhat helped redeem its shortcomings, but a poor ending took it right back down.
But easily the worst sketch of the night was the Shonda Talk Show, where an accused cheating husband turns out to be an old guy in a motorized wheelchair, which takes the wind out of the audience's initially vindictive sails. It's one of those sketches where there's a long lead into the surprising reveal, but what follows doesn't exactly make the wait worth it, and the sketch eventually overstays its welcome. It's not a bad idea, but this particular execution just didn't work very well.
How was Josh Brolin as an SNL host?
This is Josh Brolin's third time hosting "Saturday Night Live," having previously taken the stage in 2008 (after his run in both "Milk" and "W.") and in 2012 (when he played a young Tommy Lee Jones in "Men in Black III"). That means it's been 12 years since Brolin last hosted, so it only makes sense that he's a little rusty. Granted, Brolin hasn't always been the best live performer, and his range for playing a variety of characters is rather limited. But the best thing about Brolin is that he always seems willing to get a little weird. That's partially what makes this episode of "SNL" so fun, even in the sketches that feel like they don't work very well. There's a strange silliness throughout, and the fact that we got 10 total sketches allowed for a variety of comedic approaches.
In the end, Brolin isn't one of the better stars to host "SNL," but at least it's never boring when he comes around. But honestly, I'm a little disappointed we didn't get any "Dune" sketches. However, Brolin did briefly address the weird poem that he wrote about and for Timothée Chalamet during production on "Dune," before writing a similarly strange poem about Kenan Thompson. On a related note, it was cool to see Brolin wearing a "Surf Arrakis" t-shirt during the goodbyes.
Lisa from Temecula and Scarlett Johansson
Hang on a minute! There were two sketches I wanted to call a little extra attention to for very different reasons. First, we had another return of Lisa from Temecula making another dinner a little uncomfortable. This time, she's not too pleased with how the gratuity (pronounced "grata-too-ee") turned out on their bill, and her fervent rubbing of the erasable pen is what shakes the table into chaos. Initially, it felt like Lisa from Temecula was delivering diminishing returns, and this was a character we should have let have a one-and-done hit. Then again, I forgot what a joy it is to see Bowen Yang (and Pedro Pascal) break in these sketches, and this has Yang's biggest guffaw yet.
After Lisa labels Yang's character as "negro-divergent," Yang can't help but laugh out loud, which makes almost everyone else laugh at the table. His reaction makes me wonder if the writers took a cue from John Mulaney's approach to Bill Hader's Stefon bits at the Weekend Update desk, and swapped out a line so that Yang didn't know it was coming. Either way, that one moment was enough for me to keep from waving away the return of Lisa from Temecula. But I'm still not sure how long they can keep this going.
Finally, it was a foregone conclusion that we were going to get some kind of riff on the State of the Union address from President Joe Biden this week. Of course, we got the bits about Biden's big energy on the night, as well as the obnoxious sack of stupidity going by the name of Marjorie Taylor Greene. But personally, I was waiting to see how "SNL" was going to handle the Republican rebuttal from Senator Katie Britt, who spoke to Americans like she was both being kept hostage and keeping someone else hostage. Using her most dramatic whispers, frequently sounding like she was about to cry, and then suddenly shifting into stern mother mode, she sounded like a psychopath. So, who did "SNL" get to bring such a horrifying character to life?
Scarlett Johansson! Wait, what? That's right, rather than bringing in Heidi Gardner or Chloe Fineman, the two cast members who likely would have fit that bill rather well, "SNL" brought in the Oscar-nominated star of "The Avengers" and "Jojo Rabbit" to play Katie Britt. Johansson also just so happens to be Colin Jost's wife, so getting her to come into the show makes perfect sense. Johansson magnificently tapped into all the touchstones of Britt's unsettling speech, right down to her breathing nuances and disturbing shifts in facial expressions. She's an acclaimed actress for a reason, and she absolutely nailed this. I'm not sure how much more we'll be seeing of Katie Britt as this election year continues, so it'll be interesting to see how often they utilize Johansson in this role.
That's all for this week. For more on new episodes of "Saturday Night Live," be sure to check out "The Ten to One Podcast" wherever podcasts are available. We'll be back at the end of the month after comedian Ramy Youssef (creator and star of "Ramy" on Hulu) makes his hosting debut on March 30.