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Saved! Customer Reviews (1 - 3 of 16 Reviews)

Relax - you're "safe."
Yeah, this movie has its moments. When I saw it, the theatre was packed and everybody laughed their heads off. The impressive thing about this is that I saw it in Kansas, where they're seriously considering changing the state motto to "I Ain't Come From No Monkey."

Not that there's any reason at all why anybody should get uppity about this film, of course. "Saved!" is perfectly harmless, even bland in its satire. The characters are all very broadly drawn, the format is 80's teen flick, and the ending wraps everything up in a nice happy package, sitcom-style. Only people who dispute evolution, picket abortion clinics, lobby against gay marriage, etc., are likely to take offense to anything contained here; and I know better than to argue with lunatics. The rest of us aren't learning anything we didn't know from this movie. Relax, Mr. Falwell, "Saved!" is "preaching to the converted" (so to speak) exactly as "SuperSize Me" was, and neither is likely to have much effect on core bases of fundamentalists and the morbidly obese respectively.

Then there are the people who complain that "Saved!" puts the emphasis on psycho-Christian Hilary (are we really so surprised that Mandy Moore pulled this off?), and naive, misguided outsider Mary (Jena Malone), but doesn't provide a solid counter-example of a good Christian girl who's devout but not judgemental or confused or manifestly insane. Well, nice try, but I'm afraid that's only valid as a "criticism" if you're Christian. Sure, most of the reasonable, down-to-earth, open-minded characters in this film are non-Christians; but you know, maybe that's just "the way it was" in this one particular hypothetical instance. Movies have no more responsibility to constantly promote the Christian agenda than they do the "gay agenda" (much discussed by Christians), or the Puerto Rican, or the vegan, or ANY agenda other than that of making their backers some scrilla. Anyway, this is supposed to be a satire, remember? It doesn't always have to hit above the belt, even when the target is religion - at least in this country. (Thank God!)

"Saved!" isn't nearly as venemous or vindictive towards religion as it could've been, especially in light of recent events. Yes, Hilary is ridiculous, over-the-top, flamboyantly hypocritical - again, that's how you know it's a JOKE. But about the most "blasphemous" thing that happens in the film is that at one point she drives her car into a 50-foot Jesus-shaped billboard in a fit of rage, and the head lands on her windshield. Compared with what he goes through in "The Passion," that's a cake walk. The writers are actually very careful to make the point - at the end of the film - that true spirituality is (or ought to be) positive and balanced rather than vicious and bigoted. They don't insist on denomination, and why should they? Yet "Saved!" has in fact been embraced by a few Christian groups whose faith was evidently strong enough to withstand a trip to the movies. I daresay the typical televangelist could learn something from them.

I've chosen not to rehash the plot for you in this review because that's already been done. To me this film is more interesting for the way people react to it than for the content itself. I enjoyed it, but not as much as I figured I would considering how much certain people hate it. Still, I like the fact that somebody made this kind of picture, and I hope more follow. The actors are all OK; Eva Amurri steals the show as obnoxious punk Jew transfer student Cassandra; Patrick Fugit is the Christian skateboarder and oft-overlooked example of a non-insane but religious youth in the film; Macaulay Culkin's in here too as the wheelchair-bound wiseacre Roland (get it), and he can't act, but we already knew that. All in all, "Saved!" is hardly brilliant, but probably more worthy of your two hours than a lot of films out there.

"Mean Girls" meets "Elmer Gantry."
I've heard that fundamentalist groups are lining up to protest Brian Dannelly's "Saved!", which is really too bad. This pleasant, charming and altogether rather innocent film provides a painless lesson about what true Christian behavior should be. The plot concerns Mary (Jena Malone), an innocent, earnest born-again girl who tries to cure her boyfriend of his newly realized gayness by seducing him. Her resulting pregnancy scandalizes the "Christian Jewels" clique at Mary's fundamentalist high school, led by the insufferable Hillary Faye (Mandy Moore). Some funny and lightly satirical complications ensue, enacted by a talented cast of teen-star royalty--not only Malone and Moore, but also Macaulay Culkin, Patrick Fugit and Heather Matarazzo. The standout, however, is Eva Amurri (Susan Sarandon's daughter) as Cassandra, the only Jewish student at Mary's high school, who sets herself in gleeful rebellion against Hillary Faye's hypocritical rat pack. "Saved!" sends up various affectations of both the teen and born-again cultures, but with more affection than vitriol. The film is not anti-Christian at all, just anti-Pharisee. That anyone considers it controversial at all is more a commentary on society (and not a pleasant one) than on the movie.

SAVED is an interesting trip into Contemporary Christians!
SAVED is a good movie even if it's bound to shock or offend some hard line evangelical Christians. It's a comedy with some dramatic twists, and some interesting points to make about modern Christianity. The performances are all really good! The actors play this very real. Mandy Moore (as the sometimes cruel Hillary Faye) is not pure evil - just self-centered and not empathetic towards others. Jena Malone plays Mary who becomes heavy with child after trying to save her gay boyfriend. She makes her innocent and sympathetic. Mac Culkin plays a handicapped brother, and does it with a wry wit and sly style. Patrick Fugit is great as the pastor's son - who happens to be a semi-professional Christian skateboarder. Very moving also is Mary Louise Parker as Malone's mom - who finds the situation with her daughter quite hard to take.

Ultimately the movie is about tolerance - something I think most Christians understand already. It turns its critical eye on people who force others to feel inferior because of mistakes they make or faiths they have which do not line up with their own views. They also have some clever bits about the new face of Christianity - where the secular and sacred seemed to have become blurred (rock bands with Jesus messages, WWJD bracelets, etc). In the end it's a movie with a big heart - just maybe not an orthodox one. All the characters end up in an okay place, and no one is judged too harshly. And that seems to be the point - Judge not, lest ye yourself be judged.

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