Saving Silverman

Starring: Jason Biggs, Steve Zahn, Amanda Peet, Jack Black, Amanda Detmer, R. Lee Ermey, Kyle Gass, Neil Diamond
Directed by: Dennis Dugan
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Comedy, Romance
2001

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: When their pal (Jason Biggs) starts dating the girlfriend (Amanda Peet) from hell, two friends (Steve Zahn, Jack Black) decide to kidnap her to get her out of the picture.

Review:

Tim: Want to know how completely forgettable this film is? I honestly believe I've actually seen this movie twice. When I watched it the second time, I had absolutely no recollection of anything that happened in the film. Nothing. That made me question whether I'd seen this movie before or not. I still believe I have, but I have no proof. This movie is pretty terrible.

I suppose the basic idea is sound- two friends fight to save their other friend from a woman who is clearly terrible for him (manipulative, demeaning, controlling), but he doesn't see her that way. That could definitely be the start of a very funny movie. Unfortunately, the script is pathetic, and in Dennis Dugan's hands, this movie fails completely. The whole idea of kidnapping the girlfriend is such an absurd idea. This concept is half-baked and never even gets close to its full potential. This movie has so many plot holes that it is stunningly stupid. I could never get into the story because of how poorly written the script is and how ridiculous the whole thing became.

The cast would have been better had they been given better characters to play. Outside of the American Pie movies, I really do not like Jason Biggs. He's just a below average actor in every way. His performance was really forced. Amanda Peet was fine- she really embraced the role of the crazy control freak. Steve Zahn was good. I really liked Zahn, and while he was given a dumb character, he played it fairly well. Jack Black was fine. He was less annoying than many of his other roles, but he wasn't anything special. The rest of the cast was average.

My big problem with this movie is that the whole thing just felt so incredibly stupid. The basic premise is far-fetched, and I could never get into anything happening in the film. The movie was surprisingly unfunny- I might have laughed once or twice during the whole film. The characters are mostly unlikable. I also didn't get the whole Neil Diamond thing. It just felt like such an odd focus of the movie. I like Neil Diamond as much as the next guy, but this aspect of the film simply did not work for me.

This movie is obviously very flawed, but the worst aspect of the whole film has to be how joyless the whole thing comes across. There's just so little to like in this movie. Everything about it is forgettable, and even at 90 minutes, the film was a chore to sit through. This is a stupid comedy that is absolutely not worth seeing. I couldn't recommend it less.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 3



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend:
American Pie, Loser