darren ( jason biggs ) , wayne ( steve zahn ) , and j . d . ( jack black ) have been best friends since the fifth grade . like the three musketeers , they've been together through thick and thin . but , when darren meets an attractive , but cold-blooded and manipulative , psychiatrist , judith ( amanda peet ) , the long time friendship is placed in danger . it's up to wayne and j . d . to rescue their best friend in " saving silverman . " " silverman " has its heart in the right place , but the story , by newcomers hank nelken and greg depaul , is <NEG> too lightweight to sustain the tale of the battle </NEG> for darren's soul . based on their experience of a friend making a major marital mistake , the story is centered on the three , life long amigos . when wayne introduces darren to judith , he doesn't realize that he has opened a pandora's box of disaster for himself and j . d . judith was once in a relationship where her boyfriend was the dominant figure until he died in a kick boxing match . since then , she has sought a new mate - someone she can boss around and mold into her own vision . enter darren silverman . once they realize the magnitude of their error in judgement , wayne and j . d . try everything they can , including threats and bribery , to get judith to free darren . nothing works until the duo come up with a plan - kidnap judith and get darren back together with the girl he called his one and only , pretty sandy perkus ( amanda detmer ) . the only problem here is that sandy is about to take her vows to become a nun . things spiral out of control as judith repeatedly attempts to escape while wayne and j . d . play cupid . the boys even bring their idol , neil diamond , into the picture to help resolve things . thinking about it , <NEG> this is a real mishmash of contrivance and coincidence </NEG> that is held together solely by the comedic efforts of steve zahn and jack black . the pair is able to elicit the film's only laughs with their goofy antics and child-like behavior . <NEG> they are relegated to providing slapstick guy humor </NEG> and the two are more than equal to the task . steve zahn has been steadily honing his comedic acting skills and gives some complexity to wayne , the " brains " of the gang . jack black has the big-guy moves of a chris farley , giving j . d . an amusing physical presence . the neat thing is that the two actors are able to get fresh laughs from <NEG> stale material </NEG> . <NEG> the rest of the cast doesn't fare as well , though </NEG> . jason biggs is the straight man of the musketeers and gets very little to do ; though having watched his previous films ( " american pie " and " loser " ) i'm not sure what attraction biggs actually has . amanda peet is <NEG> caustic </NEG> as the manipulative judith . there is <NEG> no humanity at all to her character as she single-mindedly strives </NEG> to recreate darren into her mind's image . she's a monster that wayne and j . d . must defeat to save their friend . <NEG> unfortunately , there is no dimension to her character </NEG> . amanda detmer <NEG> brings nothing </NEG> ( or gets nothing ) as darren's one and only . r . lee ermey , as the psychotic coach , <NEG> made a bad decision taking this role </NEG> . tune-meister neil diamond gives a good-natured cameo perf as the boys' idol and savior . production values are on par with the rest of the film - <NEG> lackluster and non-involving </NEG> . director dennis dugan has a track record for broad comedy with films like " big daddy " and " beverly hills ninja , " but <NEG> falls flat </NEG> with " saving silverman . " the 2001 movie year has yet to provide us with a " good " film to sink our teeth into . at least , with " saving silverman , " we get a couple of funny perfs from zahn and black . <NEG> too bad that the rest of the film lacks their level of humor </NEG> . <NEG> kick boxing deaths and conflicted nuns are not the makings of a good comedy </NEG> . i give it a c- .
