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Saving Silverman
EMAILPRINTSony Pictures Entertainment

Generally unfavorable reviews
Based on 29 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 41 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Comedy
Written by:
Hank Nelken
Greg DePaul
Directed by: Dennis Dugan
Release Date:
Theatrical: February 9, 2001
DVD: July 17, 2001
Running Time: 90 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: PG-13 for crude and sexual humor, language, and thematic material
Starring Jason Biggs, Steve Zahn, Jack Black, Amanda Peet, Amanda Detmer, R. Lee Ermey, and Neil Diamond
Traces the misadventures of buddies J.D. (Black) and Wayne (Zahn), who begin to suspect that their best friend, Darren Silverman (Biggs), is going to allow himself to be badgered into marrying Judith (Peet), a woman he doesn't love. They decide to reunite him with his long lost love from their school days (Detmer) -- even if they have to kidnap Judith to do it. (Columbia Tristar)
Also On Metacritic
FILM: Beverly Hills Ninja Big Daddy Happy Gilmore National Security The Benchwarmers You Don't Mess with the Zohan
Also On The Web: Internet Movie Database View The Trailer Official Studio Site
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir
I was laughing myself sick over Saving Silverman, a sublimely idiotic farce in the "There's Something About Mary" tradition.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Steven Rea
Yes, it's stupid. But sometimes it's stupid with a capital S, and it's in those moments of transcendent idiocy that you can't help liking Saving Silverman. At least, a little bit.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Lisa Alspector
It's doubtful that the haste with which two actors of the same sex break away from a kiss in this comedy was in the script, but otherwise everybody stays in character, which is impressive given the manic range of some of the roles and the comic monotony of others.
Read Full Review >LA Weekly Manohla Dargis
This is harmless stuff, and sometimes it's actually pretty funny, too.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas
A standard-issue numskull comedy that aims low but is high in energy.
Read Full Review >Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
It's basically a cheerful slob job, one of those slapped-together features so often embraced by teenagers with more disposable income than discernible taste.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker
The film is a shapeless mess and about as convincing as a cartoon, the usual mix of slapstick, doofus humor and raunchy sex jokes lacking even the bite or attitude to make it adventurous.
Read Full Review >New York Post Lou Lumenick
Relentlessly dopey and vulgar.
Mr. Showbiz Kevin Maynard
Black, who is creatively marooned in the thankless Chris Farley fat-boy role, deserve better, and so do we.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Mark Caro
The movie drags down everyone involved, regardless of their apparent talent.
Boston Globe Jay Carr
The kind of comedy that takes the fun out of stupidity.
New York Daily News Jami Bernard
Screenwriters look to many sources for inspiration. In the case of Saving Silverman, they looked behind them, and liked what they saw.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Curtis Morgan
The timing is off, the gags lame, the twists predictable, the crudity rampant and unamusing.
Read Full Review >Film.com Sean Means
Chaotic, peurile, loaded with sniggering commentary and obsessed with breasts, Saving Silverman is like a 90-minute walk through a 13-year-old boy's head.
Read Full Review >Dallas Observer Robert Wilonsky
Every movie Dugan releases looks like something made on accident--tosses yet another stink bomb into theaters for audiences to sniff over.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Desson Thomson
Let's accentuate the positive: Saving Silverman really stinks. No, really. It's bad. Awful.
Read Full Review >The New York Times Dana Stevens
Does occasionally rise out of the sewer of its self-imposed idiocy, ascending in brief moments from utter witlessness to half-witlessness, mostly thanks to the loose comic byplay between Mr. Black and Mr. Zahn.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
So bad in so many different ways that perhaps you should see it, as an example of the lowest slopes of the bell-shaped curve.
Read Full Review >Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman
Just when the story reaches its idiotic nadir, Neil (Diamond) shows up to save the day with a song and a smile.
Rolling Stone Peter Travers
Peet is always worth watching, but the role does her no favors, and the script, involving a kidnapping and a surprise cameo by Neil Diamond - you heard me - smacks of desperation beyond saving.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
Reaches toward new heights of comic laziness and succeeds beyond anyone's wildest expectations.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum
In one rotten production -- all involved have managed to create the most unlikable, man hating, woman hating, unfunny idiots since ''Whipped'' ended up on worst movie lists last year.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Wesley Morris
The movie can barely muster the bravery to be even "Dude, Where's My Car" stoopid.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Stephen Hunter
One thing the makers of Saving Silverman do not have to worry about: Hannibal Lecter will never visit them to eat their brains. That is because they have no brains.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 7.9 (out of 10) based on 41 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
Steven L. gave it a5:
I know it's stupid, I know it deserves the bad ratings. But i can't lie, I'd watch it again. Steve Zahn & Jack Black are two guys that can make bad movies watchable.
Justin S. gave it a10:
Critics don't know good movies if it showed up at their front door. This movie rocks and is hilarious.
Dan F. gave it a6:
The last 3rd is pretty weak, but it's a genuinely funny movie. Can't understand all the low scores.
Jerry P. gave it a10:
By far Jack Black's funniest movie. I have laughed harder in very few movies.
Guy! gave it a10:
Funniest Jack black movie ever! It really brings out his character.
Jackson G. gave it a7:
Awesome. One of the few movies in which Jack Black is actually funny (the other he barely appears in: High Fidelity).
Boneho C. gave it a0:
Very, very bad. The movie falls apart so fast that it actually relies on making Jack Black's character gay to throw in some extra laughes, none of which work.
