FilmBlather.com

"...and a beer bong for the lady?"

I scoffed when I saw the trailer for Saving Silverman, which proudly announced that the film was "from the director of Big Daddy!" Now that's what I call a draw! I doubt that even the people that liked that movie remember it as anything other than one of Adam Sandler's weaker efforts. Its use in any trailer is initially puzzling, but after seeing Saving Silverman, the mystery is explained. If you liked Big Daddy, you'll like this movie. If you didn't like it, you won't. I didn't.

This one, at least, had a decent premise, and there wasn't an adorable moppet in sight. Darren Silverman has been best friends with Wayne and J.D. since kindergarten. Now, they play in the same band and hang out together nearly every day. When they're sitting in a bar one night, they spot a hottie (Amanda Peet) sitting at a table not too far away from them. Wayne and J.D. egg Darren on to go talk to her. He does. Next thing they know, Darren is getting married.

The problem is that Judith, Darren's blushing bride, turns out to be controlling and insufferable. She insists that Darren ditch Wayne and J.D. and get new friends, or else "no more sex." He reluctantly complies, but Wayne and J.D. aren't about to take this travesty sitting down. They're going to rescue their old-time buddy from this dominatrix, and they're going to resort to kiddnapping Judith to do it.

Yeah, Saving Silverman is rude, crude and racy (well, PG-13 style). Cinema doesn't get dumber than this. That's not always a bad thing, but a movie like that has to be funny, and that's where it falls short of the mark. Steve Zahn and Jack Black are extremely talented comedians, but the film has them do nothing except bumble and roll around on the floor like the complete idiots that their characters are. The writers don't realize that stupid people aren't funny by themselves; they have to be put in funny situations for the result to qualify as comedy. Unfortunately, Saving Silverman's running time is pretty much filled up with the two would-be protagonists being beaten up by Amanda Peet, a sight gag that's funny once but wears thin very quickly.

Jason Biggs needs to get a real role before he becomes a has-been. His lovable loser act is beginning to get tiresome; one more movie like this, and I'll officially give up on an actor I thought was talented after American Pie. Amanda Peet also seems to like reprising her previous roles; in this case, it's the "violently sexy" stereotyped that she exemplified in The Whole Nine Yards and Whipped.

At a mere 80 minutes, Saving Silverman is watchable, but it never takes off. There are a few humorous lines, a funny sight gag here and there, and the presence of Neil Diamond livens things up a bit, but the jokes are overwhelmingly dumb, and not in a good way. Director Dennis Dugan seems to be making a name for himself with this sort of lowest-common-denominator fluff; I'd suggest that this isn't the best way for a director to make a name for himself in Hollywood. When Adam Sandler gets old and decides to direct, Mr. Dugan may find himself up the infamous creek.