Saving Silverman
by Dean Kish
In “Saving Silverman”, Jason Biggs stars as Darren Silverman, who has two best friends,
(Steve Zahn) and JD (Jack Black), who have been loyally by his side since the sixth grade.
Darren is engaged to be married to the stunning Judith (Amanda Peet). What Darren doesn’t
realize is that he is marrying the bride from hell. Now it’s up to Wayne and JD to save Darren
from marrying Judith. Their plan is to kidnap Judith and hook Darren up with his soul mate,
Sandy (Amanda Detmer). Since they are bumbling idiots, it’s going to take a miracle for this
plan to work. Maybe their belief in Neil Diamond music might help.
The new film “Saving Silverman” is the perfect example of how a delightful cast just can't
save a really bad script. I mean this film tries really hard to be a laugh riot but it never
finds the right string to pull for laughs. In this tiny 80 minute film, you have nun jokes,
gay jokes, slapstick, putdowns, jail jokes, and flashbacks. I mean none of these attempts at
comedy work. I found myself laughing and crying at just how blatantly bad this film actually
was.
Within this mess there were a couple interesting performances. I really liked the performances
of Steve Zahn and Amanda Peet. Zahn’s always been quite funny and here he does his best with
the daft character of Wayne. He could have been a lot funnier if the film’s writers would had
let him improvise more. Then there is Peet’s vicious man-killer, who has quite the revealing
wardrobe in film as she kicks the crap out of everyone except Biggs. I liked her turn as the
nutcase girlfriend it was fresh and she had a knack to be evil and innocent all in one take.
I mean in some scenes she would look like an angel then drop-kick you in the throat. Beauty
is only skin deep in the character of Judith.
The whole film is a shame for its stars Peet and Biggs who really can't find the proper
project. Amanda Peet has a chance to rebound this year with high profile films as “Changing
Lanes” with Ben Affleck and Samuel L Jackson and “High Crimes” with Ashley Judd and Morgan
Freeman. I am sure these will help her rebound from Silverman and her previous film, Whipped.
As for Biggs, he has “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back” directed by Kevin Smith and “American
Pie II” where he will reprise the role that made him famous. There is hope for these stars in
2001 just push Silverman out of your mind and skip it this weekend. Trust me you will be
thankful.
(1 of 5) So Says the Soothsayer.
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