Starring Jason Biggs, Jack Black and Steve Zahn
No one has heard a bigger female groan than the one in the theater that day.
But for some unknown few, seeing unbridled cleavage and slapstick comedy makes the movie-going experience. For them, “Saving Silverman” is a saving grace. But for the more refined crowd (past third grade), most of the jokes miss, making the flops to the ground that much more painful.
Jason Biggs stars as Darren, a lovable loser in the vain of pretty much every character he’s ever played. This time, he can’t find the right girl so he hangs out with two school chums, Wayne and J.D. (Steve Zahn and Jack Black).
A little thing called humanity separates this shock-value humor from its money-making instigator, “American Pie.” What most movie-makers don’t realize is that in between pie scenes and Internet voyeurism, the audience was pulling for the characters to be happy. The follow-up movies try to outdo the humor without thinking of the likability of the characters.
What people in the movie industry call “conflict” comes when Darren meets Judith (played by Peet’s cleavage). He loves her because, well, she’s somebody, and she takes advantage of that. Her domineering ways veer him away from the beer-swilling friends and into her control.
In some sort of comment on the bachelor life, the dastardly duo realize Darren’s importance in their lives and plot some male revenge. Sandy (Amanda Detmer) throws herself into the scene as a lovable, nun-like alternative to Judith. Literally. She plans on being a nun. Who comes up with this gold?
You’ll find yourself repeating various ironic mantras, to the delight of no one. Seriously, there are many painful moments here, even with the manic Black on board. This movie proves he still needs solid writing to bring the laughs. Otherwise, he becomes trapped by stereotypes like a dim-witted closet homosexual with a wealth of male genitalia jokes.
But fear not, there is a salvation. Neil Diamond makes quite a few appearances, and his scenes are cracklin’.
The great singer-songwriter will separate this movie from the rest of the gross-out comedies on the horizon. The plot device: the three men are part of the Diamonds, which allows for gratuitous sequins and bad wigs in accurate covers of songs like “Cracklin’ Rosie.” But this cover band delves into obsession, producing a restraining order in the process. Not to give too many of the surprising plot turns away, but Mr. Diamond actually makes a few appearances with his fans.
And somehow, this isn’t too painful. In an age when so many weird things are considered cool, Diamond fits into the retro ’80s cool nicely. “Eighties?” you ask? That was the era of peak performances on “Donahue,” in between the serious political talk and sweeps-month strippers. Ah, they don’t make talk shows like that anymore.
Ahem ... back to the movie. The rest of the sight gags and physical comedy usually fall flat, unlike Peet, who only contributes her body to the process. Instead of wit, the script requires multiple stuntpeople.
One small point: Peet’s never been in a good movie. She’s never even been good in a movie. Her fans, lovingly called “Peet-ophiles,” have followed her from the bad “Body Shots” to the lose-your-faith-in-humanity-inducing “Whipped.”
But in a sentence never before written in this newspaper, this piece of entertainment needed more Neil Diamond. He provides the brightest moments, and allows Black to play some guitar and sing -- his bread and butter. Unfortunately, the rest of this spread is overexposed and groan-inducing.
The Northern Star Home Page
The Internet Movie Database
What other critics think - The Rotten Tomatoes Site