Saving Silverman (2001) 3 stars out of 4. Starring Jason Biggs, Steven Zahn, Jack Black, Amanda Peet, Amanda Detmer, R. Lee Ermey and Neil Diamond. Written by Greg DePaul and Hank Nelken. Directed by Dennis Dugan. 91 minutes. PG-13.
Saving Silverman is a winning combination of slapstick and sweetness propelled by the antics of two fine young character actors ó Steven Zahn and Jack Black.
This low-brow, sometimes crude comedy is nonetheless rather charming. After all, any movie in which Neil Diamond is characterized as a cultural icon who can save the day canít be bad.
Silverman is a story of friendship and the lengths some people will go to to preserve that bond.
Darren (Jason Biggs), Wayne (Steve Zahn) and J.D. (Jack Black) have been best friends since grade school, sticking together into adulthood where they rock together in Diamonds in the Rough, a Neil Diamond cover band.
The trio, especially Darren, always have been unlucky in love.
Then along comes Judith (Amanda Peet), a stunning, cold-hearted, manipulative psychiatrist who grabs the sweet Darren away from his friends. ìHe is my puppet and I am his puppet master,î she brazenly tells Wayne and J.D. when they try to reclaim their pal.
Judithís stranglehold is so great on Darren that he even refuses a chance to be reunited Sandy (Amanda Detmer) with his ìone and only true loveî from high school.
Wayne and J.D. then take extreme action to separate Darren from Judith, thus giving their friend a chance to realize his true feelings for Sandy.
Zahn (That Thing You Do and Happy Texas) and Black (High Fidelity) are wonderfully funny, physical and bumbling as the inept pair endlessly scheming to rescue sweet Darren. That they are no intellectual match for Judith is part of the fun, as she uses her brain while they try to use brawn.
Much of the humor is coarse, involving punishment to unmentionable body parts, but the overall tone of the movie is so cheery and light-hearted that you are not offended or ache with the punishment Wayne and J.D. endure for the sake of friendship.
Peet is hilarious, playing her Ice Queen part with a minimum of tongue-in-cheek.
Biggs adds another sweet characterization to his roster of parts following American Pie and Loser, while Detmer brings a wholesomeness to her role as the girl of Darrenís dreams.
Veteran F. Lee Ermey spoofs his tough-guy image, first honed as the sadistic drill sergeant in Stanley Kubrickís Full Metal Jacket ó with several variations since ó as the win-at-any-cost football coach and mentor to Wayne and J.D.
And then thereís Neil Diamond. Saving Silverman can be appreciated as one sweet, long love song to the singer. He only appears briefly and his acting hasnít improved since The Jazz Singer, but so what. Heís Neil Diamond and he has some fun spoofing himself.
Saving Silverman is rather short, running only about 90 minutes. It is not a classic comedy, but it is an entertaining vehicle that will leave you smiling.
It is witty, a bit naughty, but most of all, warm.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, IN. He can be reached by e-mail at bloom@journal-courier.com or at bobbloom@iquest.net. Other reviews by Bloom can be found at www.jconline.com by clicking on golafayette. Bloom's reviews also can be found on the Web at the Internet Movie Database: http://www.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Bob+Bloom
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