AndyMangels.com: JUST OUT Information

Saving Silverman      Save this for the Cheap Seats.

     The trailer hadn't looked overly promising, so as I settled in for the screening of Saving Silverman, I wasn't expecting much. After all, a movie about two idiots (chubby Jack Black and weasely Steve Zahn) trying to stop their best friend (Jason Biggs) from marrying an überbitch (Amanda Peet) so they can keep their Neil Diamond tribute band going…well, let's just say it lived up to my expectations.

     But then, about halfway through, the film takes a turn toward our side of the fence when Black comes to grips with being gay! Throughout the rest of the movie, he blithely proclaims his homosexuality to anyone who will listen. Mostly, the revelation doesn't lead to much consternation among the hetero characters, except for the real Neil Diamond, who has been receiving nude pictures of Black for years.

     How refreshing to find a dunderheaded, slacker, dopey movie that isn't using homosexuality as something to be frightened by or shunned. And just when you think the development of the gay character isn't going to progress further, a fourth-quarter surprise results in a man-to-man wedding ceremony and full-on kiss. It isn't great cinema, but it might make a fun cheap-movie-night excursion.