Saving Silverman

I remember that I saw this movie many years ago, but couldn't really recall whether it was a funny movie or not. I happened to find it again on Netflix, so I decided to sit down and watch it again.

It turned out that the movie was actually funny, and I did recall the basics of the storyline. Darren (played by Jason Biggs) is about to marry Judith (played by Amanda Peet), a thing that Darren's two best friends, Wayne (played by Steve Zahn) and J.D. (played by Jack Black) does not want to see happen.

The cast in the movie was good, and I especially enjoyed the roles played by Jack Black, Steve Zahn and Amanda Peet, because they really carried the movie so well.

There are some good laughs here and there throughout the course of the movie.

"Saving Silverman" can be watched more than once; you just have to wait a significant amount of years before doing so.

Honest to God I really thought I would hate this movie. The reviews were all awful, they changed the title for the UK release & tried to sneak it out unnoticed. I even had it recommended to me based on the fact it has a cameo appearence by Neil Diamond! That aside I watched it anyway and loved it. Yes, the acting is really over the top. Yes, it's all sub-American Pie humour. Yes, you can see (most of) the jokes coming from a clear mile away. But, to be honest, none of that matters because it's just funny. If you've seen Jack Black or Steve Zahn in anything you know what to expect here because they are the stars. If there is any justice in this world Hollywood exec's will not read the reviews or look at the box office figures and they will work together again. It simply has to be.

I saw this movie when it first came out in theaters and I loved it. Then a few days ago, I rented the R-rated version of this movie and laughed even more than I did during the PG-13 version. I have had a lot of my friends say that this movie sucked and then I'd show them the R-rated version and they would quickly change their minds. Some of them rushed out of my house to go buy the R-rated version. I know that the rating shouldn't make the movie funnier, but it does. In my opinion, there is no such things as too racy when you are trying to make people laugh. That is what the R-rated version does. It has tons of added racy footage that makes the film funnier because it makes me laugh more. I'm not saying that just being crude is funny, I'm saying that when the crude content is used right, it can be funny and it is funny here. I now own both the R-rated version and the PG-13 version and both of them make me laugh, yet it's the R-rated one that makes me laugh harder. Steve Zahn and Jack Black get more screen time in the R-rated version. It's a good thing too because I thought that the PG-13 version gave Amanda Peet and Jason Biggs way too much screen time. Now everyone gets a fair amount of screen time. It's better that way. It's also a better film that way.

Granted, Saving Silverman is not good movie. Jason Biggs is only funny as the American Pie guy, and even that act got old by the sequel. But Steven Zahn and Jack Black are two very funny individuals. A Neil Diamond cover band called "Diamonds in the Rough." I could laugh about that for days. And the crazy, gay coach. I don't see how anyone with a sense of humor could walk out of this movie feeling bad.

I don't know why I expected so very little from this movie (probably that since "American Pie" we've been getting bombarded with really weak rip-offs of the "teen, gross-out" comedy), but I shouldn't have; it's actually a hilarious movie. Jack Black & Steve Zahn are two of the funniest actors working today (and, I guess, Jason Biggs isn't so bad), and they carry this movie. There are so many funny jokes and situations, this movie truly is one of my favorite "stupid" (as opposed to intelligent, I guess) comedies. But please, oh please, if you plan on seeing this, you MUST get the R-rated DVD version, not the PG-13 one that was released in theaters and on most VHS copies. There are so many funny jokes and moments cut out of the PG-13, you'd be doing yourself a disservice. It's still funny, but you miss some good stuff.

"Comingtoyaaaahaaaa..."