long time buddies and neil diamond tribute band members wayne ( steve zahn , " happy , texas " ) and j .
d .
( jack black , " high fidelity " ) watch in horror as third mate darren silverman ( jason biggs , " american pie " ) disappears under the thumb of his new fiance judith , ( amanda peet , " the whole nine yards " )
a controlling psychiatrist .
they 're doubly troubled when the return of darren 's ' one and only love ' sandy perkins ( amanda detmer , " final destination " ) returns to their home town but does n't cause a ripple in darren 's devotion to judith .
there 's only one thing wayne and
j .
d .
can think of doing - they kidnap judith and fake her death in " saving silverman .
"
written by hank nelken and greg depaul after seeing a friend engaged to the wrong woman , " saving silverman " is directed by ' hit comedy director ' dennis dugan of such films as " big daddy , " " brain donors " and " problem child .
"
it 's a dismal , third - rate farrelly brothers rip off that attempts to milk humor from such inspired bits of whimsy as having darren 's love interest come from a family of circus freaks and be about to become a nun .
gross out gags include a visualization of darren getting butt cheek implants .
" saving silverman " is almost saved by stars zahn and black .
these two are so comically talented they can take bad material and still deliver the goods .
they 're in " animal house " mode while the rest of the film trawls along and comes up empty .
jason biggs can attribute his entire career to the luck of having been cast in the smash hit " american pie .
" peet shows some physical moves but no flair for comedy here while detmer slaps a brave , sweet smile onto her face and soldiers through .
r .
lee ermey ( " full metal jacket " ) is one note in an embarrassing performance as a psychopathic ex - football coach .
neil diamond appears at the film 's climax as himself and miraculously enlivens the proceedings by belting out some of his old standards .
gross out gags one note in an embarrassing performance trawls along and comes up empty no flair for comedy a dismal , third - rate farrelly brothers rip off