Saving Silverman (2001)
“Coming to yaaaaaaaa-haaaaaaaaa!”
That’s one of the frequent catchphrases from Saving Silverman, one of the dumbest romantic comedies I’ve ever seen, but also one of the funniest. I can’t promise you’ll enjoy this film, but I don’t know what to tell you – it cracks me the hell up.
Saving Silverman centers on three complete losers: Darren (Jason Biggs), J.D. (Jack Black), and Wayne (Steve Zahn). Darren is one of the most pathetic hopeless romantics to ever be portrayed in a movie, so of course they get Jason Biggs to play him. Poor Darren is looking for his one and only, and is completely gullible to any woman who looks at him for all of two seconds. So when the controlling evil genius that is Judith (Amanda Peet) comes into his life, Darren is smitten, and it’s up to his friends Wayne and J.D. to save him by setting up an elaborate kidnapping scheme that is completely ridiculous. When I say this movie is a romantic comedy, I use the term loosely, because these characters are complete cartoons and unrealistic.
Where this film really works though is in the performances. If Seth Rogen and James Franco were put in these roles, I probably would have blown my brains out, but these actors sell this zany and stupid material. Jason Biggs is pretty forgettable, but the comedy really doesn’t revolve around him. This movie came out when Jack Black was still fresh, so he’s pretty funny here. The man who steals the show though is Steve Zahn, a comedic actor I feel has gone super underrated over the years. He’s hysterical. There’s some dialogue here that really gets me in stiches, and it’s in large part due to the delivery of Black and Zahn. We also get a really odd cameo from R. Lee Ermey, but it totally works. The performance that really surprised me though was Amanda Peet. Peet hasn’t exactly had the career many thought she would, but there’s no doubt she plays the role of evil cold-hearted bitch to perfection. She’s pretty damn funny.
The funniest element to this whole film though is the trio’s obsession with Neil Diamond. It’s a long running joke that permeates the entire movie, but it works in spades from beginning to end. Love it.
Look, I’m not going to proclaim this to be highbrow comedy, and this was a movie that got destroyed by critics when it came out. The ending is also completely absurd. I think it has found a slight cult following though. If you’re in the mood for something really dumb, yet still hilarious, this is a pretty good option. –Daniel Cohen
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