Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		2.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		2.0

Saving Silverman Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman July 30, 2021

There aren't many saving graces in Saving Silverman, Director Dennis Dugan's (Problem Child, The Benchwarmers, Grown-Ups) lame-brained comedy about a submissive man, a domineering woman, and two well meaning ne'er-do-wells who go to extreme lengths -- and bumble their way through every step -- to save their buddy from the worst decision of his life. It's a decent premise but the execution is far from even that low bar standard. Dugan is content to build one dimensional characters and rely on predictable and tired gags, not to mention a failure to do something to elevate the material beyond its bottom-scraping tendencies, yielding an eh...passable Comedy that nevertheless flounders far more often that it flies.

Best friends Darren Silverman (Jason Biggs), Wayne LeFessier (Steve Zahn), and J.D. McNugent (Jack Black) have been inseparable for their entire lives. They share a common interest in slovenly living, minimal motivation, and a high failure rate with women. They also love Neil Diamond and perform in a three-man tribute band. Things change when Darren approaches the beautiful Judith Fessbeggler (Amanda Peet), a sexy psychologist who initially blows him off but quickly finds something she likes in him. It's not his mind or body (and certainly not his friends and lifestyle): it's his willingness to submit. Totally. Completely. It's full surrender. Judith quickly puts Darren under her thumb. Sex is one-way: she gets everything, he gets nothing. He's her beck and call boy. That means less and less time with his friends, and when she finally agrees to meet Wayne and J.D., she's repulsed by their disgusting habits and empty lifestyle. She forbids Darren from socializing with them and demands the friends no longer be in the picture, or even in her sight, threatening to kill them should they make another appearance. “I own him,” she tells them before they part ways. “He’s my puppet and I am his puppet master." Wayne and J.D., not wanting to lose their friend and certainly not wanting Darren to make the biggest mistake of his life, devise a scheme -- several, actually -- to break the engagement and destroy the relationship before it's too late. Their plan? Kidnap Judith and reintroduce Darren to his high school crush, Sandy (Amanda Detmer), who is on the cusp of becoming a nun.

Saving Silverman doesn't fall so far as to be considered one of the all-time poor Comedies. A few comedic high notes, a basically good idea, and some enthusiastic performances -- in spite of some terribly generic and one dimensional characters -- allow the movie to rise to the level of more-or-less passable even as it's unquestionably and completely forgettable. Yet the negatives certainly overwhelm the experience, particularly the film's blind reliance on stale jokes, unfunny gags, and general embrace of repetitive genre drivel that leaves every scene feeling familiar and robbing the film of even a smidgen of whatever unique personality might have been afforded to it.

There's no satisfactory explanation given as to why Darren falls so head over heels for a women who not only snatches him away from his bromance with Wayne and J.D. but who controls every facet of his existence. There is certainly no good reason given as to why he would so willingly submit to Judith when there's obviously nothing in it for him. He's mentally kidnapped, essentially, his mind somehow scrambled to the point of no return by the psychologist's wiles. Who knows what she is getting out of it, either. It's a premise that might have potential with more careful characterization but as it is the film is just an excuse to drop tired gags one atop another, few of them truly worth the effort to laugh.

Saving Silverman Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

This is a troubled presentation from Mill Creek. It's evident from the very early goings that the picture suffers from some severe compression artifacts. Chunky macroblocking is commonplace along every shot in the film, leaving the picture looking terribly inorganic with no sense of visual flow or finesse. Further, the grain pattern has all but been removed in favor of artificial smoothing. Mercifully there remains enough of a clear, crisp HD picture with essentially well rounded details to leave a mildly favorable impression. Faces and clothes are not fully devoid of detail, refusing to appear overly smeary, but to be sure the picture has been rendered less than ideal by the processing. Colors are vibrant, certainly lacking strict nuance and depth but primaries and secondary hues come alive with enough pop and punch to satisfy. This is a very colorful movie; colors are probably the biggest "plus" on offer. Black levels are adequately deep and skin tones look healthy and natural. There are no major print wear signs, either. This one is at least watchable; the macroblocking is bad, but not so severe as to completely cripple the picture. It could look a lot better but it could also look a lot worse; videophiles will revolt from a place of revulsion, but casuals will probably be satisfied enough.

Saving Silverman Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Mill Creek brings Saving Silverman to Blu-ray with a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 lossless soundtrack. The presentation is robust and stretches its two channel limits quite well, expanding the soundstage to front end extremes and filling the listening area with usually well defined sound elements, even during some of the more intensely engineered moments when various sound effects scatter this way and that. Even in various scenes of sonic jumble the track manages to sort out the details without the benefit of surround channels to more fully and dynamically draw the listener into the film's world. Music is clear and well defined, effortlessly spacious though lacking the richness and fidelity superior tracks have on offer. Dialogue drives the majority and presents with good clarity and prioritization. Spoken word imaging towards the center is constant.

Saving Silverman Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This Blu-ray release of Saving Silverman contains no supplemental content. No DVD or digital copies are included with purchase. This release does not ship with a slipcover.

Saving Silverman Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

A few fun moments are admittedly assembled throughout the film, but Saving Silverman is an otherwise empty vessel Comedy that squanders decent narrative potential for recycled gags and predictable narrative pieces. The characters are flat, the pacing is poor, and the film is happy to stoop to the lowest common denominator rather than try to build a story of even modest worth within its humorous context and confines. The cast is at least enthusiastic but their talents and drive only propel the film so far forward. Mill Creek's Blu-ray features troubled video, decent audio, and no extras. Skip it.