The Rom Com Catalog

Tag: Jason Biggs

  • ‘Saving Silverman’ (2001) Review

    ‘Saving Silverman’ (2001) Review

    When their best friend, Darren Silverman, gets engaged to the controlling and manipulative Judith, Wayne and J.D. go to extreme lengths to pull him away from her tight grip. After most of their schemes fail, they eventually kidnap Judith and fake her death to push Darren toward his high school crush, Sandy.

    Saving Silverman epitomizes the kind of comedy that was popular in the early 2000s. It leans heavily into slapstick humor, bordering on the absurd. But it’s clearly not a movie aiming for sophisticated comedy. Instead, it’s filled with immature gags and nonsensical plot devices.

    However, the wild performances of Steve Zahn and Jack Black save the movie from being a complete failure. As Wayne and J.D., they approach their roles with chaotic energy, providing most of the film’s laughs.

    Jason Biggs plays Darren with sincere sweetness, making it hard to understand what he finds attractive in Judith (Amanda Peet), who shows little interest in him beyond wanting to control him. He and Sandy (Amanda Detmer) make a cute couple, even though Sandy’s backstory, wanting to become a nun after losing her true love in a circus accident, is just as silly as the rest of the movie. Saving Silverman goes all out with its outrageous premise, becoming even more ludicrous as it stumbles toward its conclusion.

    Though the film is only 93 minutes long, it feels longer, and yet… I don’t have much to say about it. The jokes become repetitive, and the characters grow increasingly cartoonish as the story unfolds. Logic does not apply in Saving Silverman. However, it does have a few genuinely funny moments, thanks to the hilarious performances of Steve Zahn and Jack Black. If you’re looking for something mindless and over-the-top, you might enjoy it, but don’t hold me to that!

    Watched: 03/22/2025
    Notable Song: Hello Again by Neil Diamond

    Rating:
  • ‘Over Her Dead Body’ (2008) Review

    ‘Over Her Dead Body’ (2008) Review

    Over Her Dead Body Synopsis: A ghost tries to sabotage her former boyfriend’s current relationship with a psychic.

    On her wedding day to Henry (Paul Rudd), Kate (Eva Longoria) is determined that everything will go perfectly. So it’s unacceptable when the ice sculpture angel she ordered shows up without wings. She insists to the ice sculptor that he take it back and bring an angel with wings, leading to an unfortunate accident in which the sculpture falls from the truck, crushing Kate to death. Dun dun!

    A year later, Henry, still despondent over his fiance’s death, is brought by his sister to a psychic named Ashley (Lake Bell). There’s hope that if Ashley can contact Kate from the beyond, Henry might find some closure. What happens instead is a scheme devised between Ashley and Henry’s sister, Chloe, to use Kate’s journal to convince Henry that Kate wants him to move on. Unbeknownst to all, Kate’s ghost is watching, and she is determined to ruin the blossoming romance between Ashley and Henry from beyond.

    In 2008, Hollywood was churning out quite a few mediocre rom-coms, and Over Her Dead Body happened to be one of them. It’s a movie with much potential but, unfortunately, fell short.

    Over Her Dead Body has a fantastic cast. Lake Bell, Paul Rudd, and Stephen Root are all brilliantly funny in their own right. A rom-com with Lake Bell and Paul Rudd? Come on. Those two alone should have made for a classic. Instead, their talents are wasted on a rather bland script that relies on familiar, unfunny gags. If I’m being frank, Bell and Rudd don’t even have much chemistry, which is painful for me to admit.

    Eva Longoria is a bit stifled in her role as Kate. She’s stuck in purgatory until she completes her unfinished business, which she believes is protecting Henry from Ashley. She pops up to annoy Ashley and sabotage Ashley and Henry’s relationship, so clearly, she needs help moving on as well, not only from her relationship with Henry but also, you know, life. Ashley has the ability to communicate with Kate, but instead of embracing it and perhaps helping both put the past behind them, she fights with Kate in a way that is very much reminiscent of high school girls chasing the same guy. The premise could have been really fun and funny, but it falls flat.

    There is also a subplot where Ashley’s co-worker, Dan (Jason Biggs), pretends to be her gay best friend just to be close to her. It seems unnecessary, but it is explained in some context that because Dan didn’t make a move on her within a week, she assumed he was gay, and… he went with it. I don’t know. I suppose this was a way to set up Henry realizing that he loves Ashley as he finds out she’s leaving town with Dan… her new boyfriend? Again, I don’t know.

    To be fair to Over Her Dead Body, there are some humorous moments, and Paul Rudd and Lake Bell are still perfect leads for a rom-com, but maybe just not this one and maybe not together. However, I can’t help but wonder if, given a better script, they would have shined together with the right kind of chemistry.

    Watched: 01/12/2024
    Notable Song: Move Along by All American Rejects

    Rating:
  • ‘Boys and Girls’ (2000) Review

    ‘Boys and Girls’ (2000) Review

    I think that Boys and Girls was meant to be the When Harry Met Sally for the teen crowd. It stars Freddie Prinze Jr. and Claire Forlani as Ryan and Jennifer, two very different people who meet as kids on a flight and then pop in and out of each other’s lives over many years, from high school to college. Jennifer is beautiful and confident, a non-believer in love but content with dating and one-night stands.

    Ryan is studious, insecure, and more of a romantic looking for commitment. They don’t seem to have anything in common except for the college they both attend. When Jennifer is asked by her roommate Amy to break up with her boyfriend for her, that boyfriend turns out to be Ryan, and afterward the two begin spending time together, eventually becoming best friends.

    Of course, there is the age-old question: can men and women be friends without sex getting in the way? It’s a question that must be answered when the two finally cross that line.

    Despite the apparent elements lifted from When Harry Met Sally, this movie is nowhere near the level of that classic. Being a teenager in the ’90s, I will admit I loved most of the teen comedies that came out in the latter part of the decade. Many starred Freddie Prinze Jr. and even Jason Biggs, who co-stars in Boys and Girls as Ryan’s roommate.

    While teen rom-coms like She’s All That, Can’t Hardly Wait, and American Pie are not what many movie fans would call cinema, they were still enjoyable and funny to me, and still are, even if they don’t hold up as well as some others from that era. But I only vaguely remember seeing Boys and Girls back then, and after watching it again, I realized why. It’s a very cookie-cutter, formulaic teen rom-com, complete with the tried-and-true airport chase and public declaration of love. But it’s also missing any good laughs or passable chemistry between the two leads, which would make those cliches tolerable.

    Though charismatic enough, Prinze Jr. gives the same nice guy performance one would expect from him, and Claire Forlani is relatively dull and wooden, reminding me of a younger Andie McDowell (that’s not a compliment). It felt like Boys and Girls wanted so desperately to be a clever, talky rom-com that would make Nora Ephron proud, but it had zero spark. Amanda Detmer and Biggs are there to provide some comic relief amongst the advice they dole out to their respective roommates, and for the most part, Biggs delivers. But that’s not saying much, and it’s definitely not worth watching the entire movie for a few amusing moments.

    There is nothing original or interesting about Boys and Girls, and plenty of other teen rom-coms from the ’90s and early 2000s are worth watching over this one.

    Watched: 01/06/2020
    Notable Song: If I Don’t Tell You Now by Ronan Keating

    Rating: