Silverman audiences need salvation
by Julia Mims, reporter

    Saving Silverman desperately needs to be saved and so does the audience. The movie should begin with the warning: viewing this movie may actually lower your IQ.

    Saving Silverman tries to be a cross between My Best Friend’s Wedding and There’s Something about Mary.

    It does not succeed at the hilarity of either.

    Jason Biggs, forever etched in the minds of the viewers for the infamous pie scene in the blockbuster American Pie, is growing up, but not too much. Biggs stars as Darren Silverman, a pushover when it comes to women or practically anything. He is one of those people who really want to fit in, yet fail miserably.

    After the only girl he loved moves out of town with her circus family, he is convinced he is unlucky in love and becomes determined to have a good relationship, no matter what the cost.

    Amanda Peet plays Judith, a psychologist who seems to know what everybody’s problem is but her own. She is quick to see the pushover quality in Darren and decides to take full advantage of it. Before long, she dictates what he can do and when he can do it. This control even extends to the bedroom.

    In step Darren’s two loyal friends from high school to take control of the situation.

    J.D., played by the ever-hilarious Jack Black, and Wayne, played by Steve Zahn, are afraid that Darren will marry Judith even though they know he really doesn’t love her.

    Being such good friends, they cannot just stand by and watch Judith ruin Darren’s life and their fun, so there is no other alternative but kidnapping her until they can set Darren up with his real true love from high school.

    The movie goes back and forth between the friends and the girlfriend with Darren’s being as oblivious as possible.

    Viewers will probably continually glance at their watches to see if the movie is going over three hours. It seems like it.

    The characters are so dry and shallow, making them uninteresting, that the audience is left with no reason to care about what happens to them. One hour into the movie, all the characters could be obliterated by an asteroid and the audience would still wonder what took so long.

    The only standout in this bleak comedy is Black, who plays the dimmer of the two best friends, though not by much. His physical comedy is hilarious, and the way he innocently utters his lines makes you laugh.

    The way he swings his head around is reminiscent of his role in High Fidelity, where he played a quirky record store worker along side John Cusack. Black has a subtle screen presence that steals the show from the main characters.

    Directed by Dennis Dugan, the man behind the films Big Daddy and Happy Gilmore just gets tripped up with Saving Silverman.

    Making a successful comedy is tricky business. The story must have all of the humor expected, but still leave room for a decent plot and some character development. There are just too many one-liners to put a real story together.

    Black’s performance though should be checked out at your local video store.