"Well, it took three tries, but Saturday Night Live figured out how to use Adam Driver," says Dennis Perkins. "Coming out for his monologue promising that he’s finally unlocked the secret of how to relax and chill, Driver took hold of his complicatedly prickly reputation and poked it cannily, acting the hell out of trying not to act...Apart from the requisite self-parody, though, Driver evinced a newfound comfort with the live experience all night." Perkins adds: "While Driver shone in sketches where the joke hinged on his intimidating presence, I was especially impressed with his dad in the sleepover sketch, a straight man role he, yet, made into something more human through sheer underplaying. As the beleaguered parent attempting to ascertain just which of the tween girls’ attempts to hide the toilet blocked by an unwisely flushed sanitary pad (Kate McKinnon, matching him every step), Driver managed to maintain an air of well-intentioned decency while outlining in horrifying detail just how much chaos the embarrassed girl has caused him and his home. (Duct tape, painting over the bathroom door, and attempting to order another toilet online are just the start of it.) Like a lot of his sketches tonight, Driver simply willed depth into his parts—even a lovelorn ketchup bottle—and raised everything up nicely."
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TOPICS: Adam Driver, NBC, Saturday Night Live, Buck Henry, Jon Lovitz