Running time: 92 minutes
Starring: Jena Malone, Mandy Moore, Macaulay Culkin, Patrick Fugit, Eva Amurri
Rating 7 out of 10
In a country where sportsmen publicly thank the Lord for their success and numerous television channels are devoted to the celebration of Christ, religion is big business. Saved! is a sweet and sassy comedy about a group of privileged teenagers who struggle to reconcile their faith with the moral pitfalls life has placed before them. With a decidedly subversive edge and carrying a message of intolerance, Saved! is not your typical teen fluff. This is a good thing in terms of being more ambitious, but it runs the risk of falling between two stools: being too thoughtful for the young crowd and too youthful for adults. The alternative viewpoint could be that by not being so readily pigeonholed, it has a wider appeal.
Saved! offers a satirical look at how religion is often used to condemn people rather than provide compassion. Good girl Mary (Jena Malone) attends the American Eagle Christian High School along with the zealously righteous Hilary Faye (Mandy Moore) and her disciples in the Christian Jewels. Her life is suitably virtuous when her boyfriend Dean (Chad Faust) declares he is gay. Following a vision of Jesus in a swimming pool, Mary is convinced it's her task to save him from his "spiritually toxic affliction." But when she sleeps with him, rather than sway him, she instead becomes pregnant, a fact she is desperate to keep from everyone, including her mother (Mary-Louise Parker).
As Mary alienates herself from the Christian Jewels, and discourages the attentions of the Principal's skateboarding son Patrick (Patrick Fugit), she befriends the school's two rebellious pupils, Hilary's wheelchair bound brother Roland (Macaulay Culkin) and the smoking, cynical Cassandra (Eva Amurri), the school's only Jew. Both have renounced their faith and it is they who offer Mary understanding and help when they discover her condition.
When news of her pregnancy spreads, the reaction of others is less sympathetic. Although all are only too ready to claim their devotion to Jesus, it appears few are prepared to show his humanity.
Jena Malone's performance shows a depth and maturity well beyond her tender years while Macaulay Culkin appears not to have aged a dot, though his acting has acquired a quiet strength. Director and co-writer Brian Dannelly has struck a resonant note with Saved!, harmonising the brash and the tender to produce a quirky film of undeniable appeal.
