Saving Silverman (2001)

Amanda Peet, Jack Black, and Steve Zahn

We watched another comedy for this one: Saving Silverman. It was originally rated PG-13 when released in theaters for language and a bunch of sex jokes. A subsequent DVD release (that we watched and review here) was rated R. For those interested, the difference between the two is adding some of F-bombs and a few gratuitous shots of some boobs.

Mark-
In the words of Bill Murray’s character Bob Wiley, "there are two kinds of people in this world, those who like Neil Diamond, and those who don’t" well the three main male characters take liking Neil to a whole different area. Wayne (Steve Zahn), J.D. (Jack Black), and Darren (Jason Biggs) are your stereotypical losers who have a love for Neil Diamond, which includes there own tribute band to him. Their obsession of Diamond goes so far in this movie that there is a restraining order against them, and in behalf of Diamond. That’s pretty much the highlights of the film as the rest just becomes a mess. Darren falls in love with Judith (Amanda Peet), who begins to control Darren and make him believe that she is his one true love. Wayne and J.D. decide they have to try and save Darren, their brilliant idea being to kidnap Judith and fake her death, hoping that Darren will fall back in love with Sandy (Amanda Detmer) who used to be his one true love, but that he never had the chance to ask out because her family went to join the circus (unfortunately Sandy’s brother, the dog-face boy, had to later be put down because of rabies). Are there a few laughs along the way? Sure. Have you seen a variety of this movie too many times before? Of course. Will you shake your head while watching? Often. It’s far from the best movie, but it’s hard to find many comedies that really are. 1 ½ out of 5 stars.
My Random Thought For Saving Silverman: Why is/was Amanda Detmer in so few movies?

Dan-
I'll be the first to admit that this movie seems to be better remembered than it actually was. Who knows, maybe I'm (shudder) growing too old for this kind of movie. There were times when I laughed, but then found myself feeling stupid for laughing. Other times I wondered to myself why I thought this movie was so hilarious when I watched it the first time.  Mark explained the plot rather well in the above paragraphs, so I won't worry about getting into it. Gotta love the Neil Diamond tribute band.

This is one of three movies I watched in relatively short time period that introduced me to Jack Black and his style of comedy. The other two are Shallow Hal and Orange County, with Orange County being the best of the 3. Jack Black is similar to Ben Stiller when it comes to comedy. They always seem to play some version of themselves and therefore the characters all seem about the same. Come on, Ben Stiller in Night at the Museum is not that different from Ben Stiller in Meet the Parents/Fockers. Similarly, Jack Black's performances are none too different in Orange County, Saving Silverman, Gulliver's Travels, School of Rock, etc. with a possible exception for the amount of drugs he consumes in each movie.

This also solidified how funny I think Steve Zahn is. He is criminally underrated when it comes to his talents and abilities to make people laugh. Ever since I first saw him in That Thing You Do, I've laughed at him. He also gets the best lines in the movie. For example when arguing with Judith he resorts to name calling and finishes off by calling Judith: "Stealer... of my best friend!!!!", as if it's the worst insult she could be given, but at the same time it's the best thing he can come up with. And his idea to arm wrestle Judith, and the winner gets Darren (see picture above) sounds eerily like something I might say or do in a similar situation. Anyway, check out some of his other cool/funny movies like Happy, Texas, Out of Sight, and Sahara. I'll agree that he may not be leading man material, but maybe if he got the right material...

All in all I'd give this movie 2½, maybe 3 stars out of 5. If it's on TV and you've got some extra time, watch it and laugh at the ridiculousness. And I also echo Mark's random thought about Amanda Detmer.