Saving Silverman (PG-13) No Rating

What do you do when your best friend hooks up with the wrong kind of girl? Uhh - get Neil Diamond?

Story

Darren (Jason Biggs), Wayne (Steve Zahn) and J.D. (Jack Black) grow up as best friends, spending their days spraying beer and playing in their Neil Diamond cover band, Diamonds in the Rough. Darren thinks he'll never meet another girl like high school crush Sandy (Amanda Detmer) until he gets swept off his feet by the beautiful but controlling Judith (Amanda Peet). When she keeps him away from his buddies, J.D. and Wayne do their best to break them up. The first half starts off so promisingly (more footage of the "band" would have been helpful), until after the hilarious attempts at kidnapping Judith and setting Silverman up with Sandy before she takes her final vows to be a nun (yes, you read right). Then it meanders, dwindles - and begins its rapid slide downhill.

Acting

There's not much you can do than shake your head and think "what a waste." Biggs is the straight man whose best scenes are pre-Judith. Black, so hysterically cutting in "High Fidelity," and Zahn, so hysterical in, well, almost everything, are a well-matched pair but really deserve better material to work with. Detmer ("Final Destination") had a more colorful role in last year's terrible Freddie Prinze Jr. film "Boys and Girls" (also starring Biggs); here, she just smiles sweetly or looks perplexed (going out to lunch in her nun’s habit elicits very little laughs). And Peet, with her steely eyes and sharp facial structure, is well-cast as the ice queen. Neil Diamond makes a cameo, but couldn't he perform a more recognizable tune than "Holly Holy"?

Direction

"Saving Silverman" would've been better served by staying in the clever lane instead of veering into the gross-out bits it ultimately turns to. Dennis Dugan, veteran of ushering "Saturday Night Live" alumni Adam Sandler and Chris Farley to film careers, depends too much on his actors to carry the laughs into the next scene. But while Sandler and Farley could just dumb-schtick their way through, Zahn and Black demand a (slightly) higher intellect. As a result, edits are awkward and the audience is left drumming their fingers going, "What's next?"

Bottom Line

We really wanted to give the film an extra half-star for Black and Zahn's potential, but that would make it recommended for theaters. Start saving your dollars for their next collaboration instead.