Review of Saving Silverman (2001) by Paul S — 27 Jan 2008

NOTE: 'Hamlet' theory at bottom of review.

Saw this on MuchMusic and expected to hate it, but I didn't. It wasn't great or anything, but plenty of Neil Diamond can only be a good thing.

The Hamlet theory: I believe most films today are based on a very small number well-known stories, many of them popularized by Shakespeare. At one point, Amanda Peet's character tells Sandy (Amanda Detmer) to 'get back to the nunnery' immediately after calling her a whore, in an obvious reference to Hamlet's "Get thee to a nunnery" (with the understood double meaning of 'whorehouse'). The famous final scene of Hamlet, wherein almost everyone gets killed, is replaced with a marriage scene, wherein almost everyone couples up. So here's the basics:

Silverman (Jason Biggs) = Hamlet (indecisive, with lots of potential - Silverman has 2 hotties, Hamlet is the Prince of Denmark).

Jack Black & Steve Zahn = Rosencrantz & Guildenstern.

Coach Norton = Polonius.

Amanda Peet = King Claudius (uses unethical manipulation on those he/she claims to love to attain power).

Amanda Detmer = Banquo's Ghost.

Marriage = Death.

Hamlet really is a much better piece of drama, but Saving Silverman has more cheap laughs and Neil Diamond.