Teacher: In this task, you must classify if a given review is positive/negative, indicating your answer as P or N.
Teacher: Now, understand the problem? If you are still confused, see the following example:
plot : two teen couples go to a church party , drink and then drive .
they get into an accident .
one of the guys dies , but his girlfriend continues to see him in her life , and has nightmares .
what 's the deal ?
watch the movie and " sorta " find out . . .
critique : a mind - fuck movie for the teen generation that touches on a very cool idea , but presents it in a very bad package .
which is what makes this review an even harder one to write , since i generally applaud films which attempt to break the mold , mess with your head and such ( lost highway & memento ) , but there are good and bad ways of making all types of films , and these folks just did n't snag this one correctly
.
they seem to have taken this pretty neat concept , but executed it terribly .
so what are the problems with the movie ?
well , its main problem is that it 's simply too jumbled
.
it starts off " normal " but then downshifts into this " fantasy " world in which you , as an audience member ,
have no idea what 's going on
.
there are dreams , there are characters coming back from the dead , there are others who look like the dead , there are strange apparitions , there are disappearances , there are a looooot of chase scenes , there are tons of weird things that happen , and most of it is simply not explained .
now i personally do n't mind trying to unravel a film every now and then , but when all it does is give me the same clue over and over again , i get kind of fed up after a while , which is this film 's biggest problem .
it 's obviously got this big secret to hide , but it seems to want to hide it completely until its final five minutes .
and do they make things entertaining , thrilling or even engaging , in the meantime ?
not really .
the sad part is that the arrow and i both dig on flicks like this , so we actually figured most of it out by the half - way point , so all of the strangeness after that did start to make a little bit of sense , but it still did n't the make the film all that more entertaining .
i guess the bottom line with movies like this is that you should always make sure that the audience is " into it " even before they are given the secret password to enter your world of understanding .
i mean , showing melissa sagemiller running away from visions for about 20 minutes throughout the movie is just plain lazy ! !
okay , we get it .
. .
there are people chasing her and we do n't know who they are .
do we really need to see it over and over again ?
how about giving us different scenes offering further insight into all of the strangeness going down in the movie ?
apparently , the studio took this film away from its director and chopped it up themselves , and it shows .
there might 've been a pretty decent teen mind - fuck movie in here somewhere , but i guess " the suits " decided that turning it into a music video with little edge , would make more sense .
the actors are pretty good for the most part , although wes bentley just seemed to be playing the exact same character that he did in american beauty , only in a new neighborhood .
but my biggest kudos go out to sagemiller , who holds her own throughout the entire film , and actually has you feeling her character 's unraveling .
overall , the film does n't stick
because it does n't entertain , it 's confusing , it rarely excites and
it feels pretty redundant for most of its runtime , despite a pretty cool ending and explanation to all of the craziness that came before it .
oh ,
and by the way , this is not a horror or teen slasher flick . . .
it 's just packaged to look that way because someone is apparently assuming that the genre is still hot with the kids .
it also wrapped production two years ago and has been sitting on the shelves ever since .
whatever . .
. skip it !
where 's joblo coming from ?
a nightmare of elm street 3 ( 7/10 ) - blair witch 2 ( 7/10 ) - the crow ( 9/10 ) - the crow : salvation ( 4/10 )
- lost highway ( 10/10 ) - memento ( 10/10 ) - the others ( 9/10 ) - stir of echoes ( 8/10 )
Solution: N
Reason: The phrases used in the review convey a negative sentiment (e.g. "presents it in a very bad package").

Now, solve this instance: 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 too lightweight to sustain the tale of the battle 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 does n'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 , this is a real mishmash of contrivance and coincidence
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 .
they are relegated to providing slapstick guy humor 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 stale material .
the rest of the cast does n't fare as well , though .
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 caustic
as the manipulative judith .
there is no humanity at all to her character as she single - mindedly strives to recreate darren into her mind 's image .
she 's a monster that wayne and
j .
d . must defeat to save their friend .
unfortunately , there is no dimension to her character .
amanda detmer brings nothing ( or gets nothing ) as darren 's one and only .
r .
lee ermey , as the psychotic coach , made a bad decision taking this role .
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 - lackluster and non - involving .
director dennis dugan has a track record for broad comedy with films like " big daddy " and " beverly hills ninja , " but falls flat 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 .
too bad that the rest of the film lacks their level of humor . kick boxing deaths and conflicted nuns are not the makings of a good comedy .
i give it a c- .
Student:
N