Genres

Visitors Review

Chris 2013-04-13 07:33:35

Hilarious.

I went to a screening of the film maaany months ago, and I thought it wasabsolutely hilarious. I really don't understand why people think itportraysChristians poorly -- there are people like that out there. In manyreligions, there are people like that. All it's doing is telling a storyabout some of them.At any rate, I can't wait to see the final version of the film. It's justareally, really funny story that centers on the humor that can be found inreligion. Original, too. It's been a long time since I've seen a comedyfilmthat I actually enjoyed. Very different from all the cookie-cutter crapthatcomes out, these days.Anyway, to summarize -- I loved it. :oD

2013-04-13 04:56:22

Feelin' the Power of Salvation!

I really did want to see this from the moment I first saw the previews, and it did not disappoint. Satire surprisingly takes a back seat to warm, gushy moments that are actually touching. The plot as a whole is a success, and the actors have much to be proud of.Malone, although she looks 12, is perfectly cast as the lost Christian girl that is seemingly abandoned by God and looking for her way. Also, Moore is perfect in this snotty role as Hilary Faye, that is somewhat reminiscent of her debut in _The Princess Diaries_ , a delightful addition to the cast. Best of all, however, is Eva. She is simply divine and hilarious in her role as the outcast Jew that falls for Faye's brother (Culkin, not bad).Overall, a great movie that is neither to brash nor soft. Just right.

2013-04-05 19:22:56

Above average for an average teen comedy

"Saved" presents us with about an hour of juicy satire, deliciously mean and sometimes hillarious observations about the trappings of fundamentalism. Then inexplicably, with the finish line in sight, it wraps up in such perfectly trite teen soap-opera pablum that not even John Hughes himself would admit to having penned it. Mary (oh, the symbolism!) is a perfectly innocent youth at a fundamentalist Christian high school, and is dating an obviously effeminite closet homosexual Dean who figure-skates for Jesus. When he finally comes out of the closet (in a pool - baptism - oh those clever filmmakers), she is so confused that she strikes her head and has a vision of Jesus. Jesus advises her to save her boyfriend at any cost, so Mary, desparate to drag Dean away from his gay porn magazines, chooses the LEAST responsible solution to restore his masculinity and has sex with him. Dean is found out soon thereafter and banished to "mercy house," which is sort of a wayward home for banished troubled teens from Christian houses. And Mary's troubles are just beginning, as she is destined to be saved by uber-Christian Mandy Moore, playing fast and loose with her good-girl movie image as the delightfully hateful Hillary Faye. Needless to say, the comic possibilities are endless from this point on and its surprising that the filmmakers don't pursue them more pointedly. Its as if they are afraid to risk the "R". There are some great moments, such as the scene where Mary symbollically questions her faith by using up all of the PG-13 cursing allotment in front of a church, or the Jesus-themed high school pep rally, complete with group prayer and Glossolalia. I think in the end the movie suffers the Hughes curse more because there are lots of characters who are interesting or potentially interesting, and not enough screen time to devote them the attention they deserve. The relationship between Pastor Skip and Mary's mother, or Culkin's character Roland and his romance with Cassandra (played by Eva Amurri), need to be juiced out more. When the denouement finally arrives, it is resolved so perfectly and neatly that nearly destroys any of the precious or absurd insights these characters have. When Pastor Skip gets dressed down, or Hillary Faye gets her comeuppance, it's not because of any sort of genuine insight, but we note its the end of the movie, and according to the teen movie playbook its the time where these plot elements are *supposed* to get wrapped up. That the juicy dilemmas are reduced and everything is made okay damages the impact of the movie's liberalized pseudo-christian agenda and somewhat nullifies the insight into the mindset of a teen in a genuine crisis of faith such as Mary. Note to the filmmakers: we're not asking for Citizen Kane every time you roll out the celluloid, but take a chance once in a while and tell the damn happy ending gnomes to take a hike.Still, this movie is not at all bad. The movie's basic Christian message - respecting other folks for who they are - may be a "common" observation, but let's be honest here - its one that bears repeating. Survivors of fundamentalist christian internments like American Eagle High will probably have a good laugh and shudder at the same time. As others have noted, the soundtrack is definitely up to troubled teen movie standards and then some (was that *REALLY* Paul Westerburg at the senior prom?) And while the movie saves most of the best barbs for Hillary Faye, it is generally respectful to all of its characters and their viewpoints, and the uneven script occasionally resonates with uncanny intelligence. But for those of you (Christian and non-Christian alike) looking for a more insightful and powerful deliberation on religion and humanity, try Scorcese's "The Last Temptation of Christ".

charmedu003 2013-04-05 14:28:56

about the movie

this movie is awesome. i have watched it a total of five times in threedays, its that great. when i first watched it i won't lie it was reallyodd b/c they were Christian fanatics, and i don't know i thought thatwas odd but after that it was awesome. The guys in this movie were hotand Jena Malone was awesome and so was Mandy Moore, even with hermullet!! I could not believe it was the kid from home alone he is sogrown up. heather matarozzo was strange but totally fit her characterof Tia. plus this movie has great acting and a clear point which ilove. the music is great. and you know what i could totally see thishappening at a high school, so it is not far fetch. well a littleexaggerated but hey it is a movie. since i rented it i am so totalgoing to buy it tomorrow, i love it that much. oh just to forwornparents some of the content is inappropriate for little kids eventhough it is pg -13. so just a warning if your 10 year old wants towatch it you might wanna watch before. hope i was helpful!!

North_Ranger 2013-03-30 18:30:50

Most likely the best high school movie ever.

I went to see this film thinking that a movie that seems to criticizethe Bible Belt Christianity must be something new and refreshing intoday's pictures. I had no REAL expectations of this movie when I satdown; I just thought it to be one of those typical American high schoolmovies with a satirical twist.When I came out I just couldn't stop smiling. I expected the film to bea bit crappy, but it proved to be BRILLIANT, to say the least. Okay, ithad some typical clichés (the popular ice queen and her posse, maincharacters framed, climax during the prom), but I simply couldn't findanything that I didn't like in this movie. It's witty, has unexpectedtwists and, most importantly, it's genuinely funny.And it mocked fundamental Christians ;D If a movie meant for anAmerican audience has the guts to satirize the audience oftelevangelists, it's got my vote. 10/10. Give me an Amen and a Hallelujah, ya'll!

Ty Burr 2013-03-30 04:31:51

Has the glitteringly satiric dialogue of Election -- and the soul of an after-school special.

2013-03-24 18:46:00

Funny and intelligent.

"Saved!" is a mostly (and unfortunately) overlooked little film that deftly tackles the subject of religion, and the confusion and hypocrisy surrounding it. Written by none other than REM frontman Michael Stipe, it manages to be a tasteful satire that makes you laugh as much as it makes you think.The story is centered around a girl named Mary, played by Jena Malone (who by the way is awesome because she's in not one, not two, but three of my favorite movies from the past few years: "Donnie Darko", "Into the Wild", and this one right here). Mary is a straight-laced teenage girl who is devoutly religious, and a top student at a christian school. She has a picture-perfect life, and a boyfriend she's madly in love with. That is, until her boyfriend confesses to her that he is gay. Now, since christianity doesn't take so kindly to the homosexual persuasion, Mary decides that she must try to "convert" him in order to save their relationship and his soul. And how does she do this? By having sex with him. This of course does not work, and not only is the boyfriend still gay, but she is now pregnant. And of course, christianity doesn't take too kindly to teen pregnancy or premarital sex either.This causes Mary to be shunned by her peers, leading her to question her faith, and everything she's always believed in. She's confused, because she's gotten into this mess because she thought it was what God wanted her to do, and in the end it only made things worse. This leads her on a path of attempting to reconcile her faith with certain aspects of her religion that no longer make sense to her.This all could potentially be a very dark and depressing film, but Stipe tackles the issues in a very light-hearted but still thought-provoking way. The uproar that is caused by all of these events seems so silly, but at the same time it's the kind of thing that really happens all over the country. Malone is excellent as a character who is so obviously naive, but at the same time is well-intentioned and introspective. She learns important lessons from all of this, and hopefully the viewer does as well. I am a non-religious person, but at the same time I'm not anti-religious either, so I really liked that Stipe chose to take a similar standpoint in making this. It is highly critical of organized religion, and the things within it that frankly just make no sense to me, but at the same time it doesn't completely condemn religion either. It shows that you can still maintain your faith or whatever without necessarily becoming a mindless slave to it, which is why I think that no matter what kind of views you have on religion, you can identify with the movie's message without feeling like you're being told to take one side or the other.And of course there's tons of great performances here, like Mandy Moore as the hilariously over-the-top religious zealot Hilary Faye, and Macaulay Culkin as her wise-cracking younger brother. Patrick Fugit excellently reprises his prototypical nice-guy role in "Almost Famous" as Mary's new potential love interest, and Eva Amurri (the lovely and talented daughter of Susan Sarandon) stands out as perhaps my favorite character of the film, the rebellious and acid-tongued Cassandra, who as the lone jew in an all-christian school is an unabashed outcast who isn't afraid to tell anyone exactly what she thinks. Her character is especially interesting, because she's initially looked down upon by the whole school (Mary included), but after word gets out about what's happened to Mary, Cassandra is the only one who's really there for her, which is an important part of Mary changing her perspective on everything.Anyway, this is just a fun, intelligent, extremely well-written film that I highly recommend. Michael Stipe has proven to be every bit as good of a screenwriter as he is a songwriter, and I for one really hope he continues to write more great stuff like this.

tyler-and-jack 2013-03-24 06:51:41

Christian school pupils find love and hate in an altar-ed state.

Jena Malone plays Mary, a young girl attending a Christian school whofinds herself in quite a difficult situation. She finds herselfpregnant after having sex with her gay boyfriend, in a misguidedattempt to "cure" him. Unable to tell anyone, especially the scarilyangelic Hilary Faye (Mandy Moore), Mary struggles on and finds herselfasking many questions about the faith she used to automatically hold sodear. Falling for a pastor's son (Patrick Fugit) doesn't really helpthe situation but, fortunately, she makes two good friends inrebellious Jewish girl, Cassandra (Eva Amurri), and wheelchair-boundRoland (Macaulay Culkin). Maybe they can make it through thisparticularly difficult time if they all help each other out. But willJesus still love them? Director Brian Dannelly (who also co-wrote the sharp screenplay) does afantastic job here of potentially upsetting lots of people while also,surreptitiously, keeping them all happy at the same time. BecauseSaved! can be read in a number of different ways. Sure, it's a scathingswipe at those who follow faith blindly or simply interpret gospel in away that suits their own blinkered lifestyle but it's also anaffirmation of the best that personal belief can bring out in people.There are no clear cut good or bad guys here and while it is easy tosee this movie as nothing more than an attack on religion that's simplynot the case.Don't worry though, that doesn't mean that this beast lacks any teeth.The script and execution are as sharp as, for example, Mean Girls andyou're guaranteed a good laugh with every other line of dialogue, aslong as you're not easily offended.The cast are all absolutely brilliant. Jena Malone has never really putin a bad performance on film, Mandy Moore is actually excellent in arole that demands she shows quite a number of unpleasant personalitytraits, Eva Amurri has a lot of fun and Macaulay Culkin is absolutelyhilarious most of the time. Add the likes of Patrick Fugit, HeatherMatarazzo and Martin Donovan and you get a quality cast delivering anabsolute top quality script.Give it a chance, and don't shy away from any of the more uncomfortablemoments, and you may just find that Saved! has a very sweet centre, apositive message and also an impressive gag ratio. It's a great littlemovie that deserves a wider audience.See this if you like: Mean Girls, Drop Dead Gorgeous, The DangerousLives Of The Altar Boys.

2013-03-17 20:10:38

right on the money.

I saw this movie and I immediately thought of a person I drove home every weekend from school. She was exactly like these people in the movie. She tried to convince me that homosexuality is wrong, spending time with a boy alone is wrong and the Christian rock is good. This movie truly depicts the kind of people Christians are. Awesome!

emarren 2013-03-17 14:23:59

Wonderful film for families w/ teens -- doesn't condescend

I was very surprised by this movie. It's a first-time feature film bythe co-writer/director, and it has all the best qualities of being afirst effort, and few of the drawbacks: it's much better paced and moreconsistently funny than most comedies. The performances are wonderful,and I found the characters - to a person - to be touching and complex.I see that a few people think some of the characters are portrayed asone-dimensional and rigid, but I don't see them that way at all; all ofthe characters are flawed, legitimately trying to find their way,making mistakes, learning and growing. The cosmology of the movie is aloving one, even tender. And, it's interesting to see kids and parentswho are tuned into fashion, music and popular culture and who justhappen to be Christian.You don't see that very often. This is a great movie for a family w/ teens to see together. Especiallyif those teens feel left out of the social order. This movie wouldreassure those who feel different. The movie does not condescend;there's a lot of behavior by teens that I didn't feel comfortable w/;but, in its attitude, the movie is a lesson to parents on tolerance ofand respect for their teenaged children.

2013-03-04 17:42:50

Puts the "fun" in "fundamentalist"!

How did I miss this? I'd heard about it, but somehow I never got round to catching it in the theatre. It's probably a good thing; if I had seen this movie in public, they would have had to sedate me.Jena Malone stars as Mary, a student at a Christian high school. When her boyfriend comes out and tells her he's gay, she is determined to save him, to the point that she has sex with him. It doesn't work. He's carted off to a special facility that's supposed to fix wayward teens, and she winds up pregnant. Finally she realizes that Jesus was never there for her at all, and that the only ones that can help her are the ones who think differently from the masses.While not exactly mean-spirited, this film does make fun of dogmatic Christians mercilessly, though they aren't likely to realize it if they watch. With the climate in this country the way it's been lately, I found this very refreshing. I haven't laughed as hard at a movie in a very long time. An overly saccharine ending where we are expected to coo over a baby and marvel at the "miracle" of childbirth mars it only slightly.The DVD features two commentary tracks; I didn't get to listen to the director's, but the one by Jena and Mandy Moore is entertaining. There are also several clips of extended and deleted scenes, bloopers, and a short promotional featurette.This is a great film that anyone with a sense of humor should love. If you're sick of The Passion, get Saved!

2013-03-04 07:52:38

The Best Film of 2004

The movie is a realistic yet comical portrayal of the problems of teenagers and criticisms of exaggerated religiousness. The characters are likable and the story flows well. Even the music is well suited for their scenes. The DVD release gave audiences a variety of extra features as well. The script is witty and genuine. Although the story seems outrageous, the other aspects make it an excellent movie. The music chosen is excellent; Mandy Moore sings "God Only Knows," a version of Depeche Mode's "Personal Jesus" plays and Chantal Kreviazuk's "In This Life" plays during a particularly pivotal scene. The amazing young cast is very realistic in the roles. The film touched on controversial issues that others refuse to address. I love the scene where Mary comes back from her appointment with a doctor sure that she is pregnant. She stops by a church and holds out her arms, and in her swearing questions God for the first time. It is a very powerful scene. The prom sequences were also powerful as the climax of the movie. The story could be examined as an attack on Christianity, but that is far from the truth. It is instead an attack on hypocritical Christians. Scenes that show Pastor Skip trying as hard as he can to use teenage language to reach out to the students is in many ways admirable. His bursts of, "Who's down with G-O-D?" and "I was thinking of something a little less gangsta'" are funny, but they in no way degrade his character. Conversations in an extended scene included on the DVD about whether convicted felons who are saved just before execution go to heaven over those never taught of Christianity are never really solved and are thus left to the viewer to ponder and decide. The biggest attack is on Hilary Faye who means well through most of the movie but often uses her religion to put herself ahead of everyone. The character is commanding and hypocritical. She condemns Mary because Mary stands up for her boyfriend and Hilary frames Mary's group of new friends to get them expelled from the school. Then she lies about it. The whole time she acts as if she is a perfect person and has the right to judge other people for making mistakes. Eva Amurri played the Jewish rebel of the school extremely well and ironically embodies the spirit of a true Christian. She helps Mary when she needs a friend most. It is easy to see why Mary is the one that is happy in the end. The theme reflects humanity; it is living a life as best as a person can while knowing they cannot be perfect. As Mary says, "No one fits in one hundred percent of the time." The extras on the DVD are abundant. Two audio commentaries are added, one with the crew and one with two female cast members. Bloopers, deleted and extended scenes, a featurette, a trailer and subtitles are also included. The commentary featuring Jena Malone and Mandy Moore displays interesting personal opinions and secrets of production. The rest of the extra features, though abundant, are not as interesting. The bloopers are not very funny. The deleted and extended scenes were cut out for obvious reasons. The featurette is short and the trailer is not the one seen on television. Part of the reason for lack of quality in the additional features is the short shooting schedule. The movie was only filmed in twenty-eight days. However, this is yet just another reason why the movie itself is so wonderful. Women might like the movie more than men because of the love story involved, but they can be promised at least a few laughs. Overall, this movie appeals to everyone.

Nick 2013-02-26 15:13:20

Very Enjoyable

Growing up in a predominantly baptist town, I've been through manyexperiences in dealing with people who thought they were better thaneveryone else simply because of what they believed. I was more or lessostracized because I didn't fall in to many peoples' belief system, andI found that my real friends fell with the outcasts; some of thesefriendships I still maintain long since graduating High School (goingon 8 years as of this writing).Having said that, I find "Saved!" to be a reminder of what those dayscan be like (however exaggerated as it may be), and if one looks pastthe obvious satire of Christian culture, one would find a nice messageof acceptance.At the film's start, we're introduced to Mary (played by Jena Melone of"Donnie Darko" fame) who gives us a brief overview of her upbringingthrough narration and flashbacks. Her world is shaken when herboyfriend confesses that he might be gay. After having sex with him toturn him straight (unsuccessfully), Mary ends up pregnant and scared.After Hilary Faye (Mandy Moore) kicks her out of the Christian Jewels(a "girl-gang for Jesus" as the narration puts it) for having aborderline nervous breakdown during a prayer session, Mary finds newfriends in Hilary Faye's paraplegic brother Roland (Macaulay Culkin ina comeback role) and his wild-child girlfriend Cassandra (Eva Amurri).Where this film works is the exchanges between the actors. The castingwas flawless for the feel of a movie like this. Also, I have to give ahand to Director and Screenwriter Brian Dannelly for the dialogue,which Macaulay Culkin uses to its full potential seen here: Cassandra: There's only one reason Christian girls come down to thePlanned Parenthood...Roland: She's planting a Pipe Bomb!? The script itself is very well written, especially for a first-timer,but that's not to say that it's without its flaws, which I'll get tolater.Also I have to give kudos to everyone who was involved with this moviefor taking a huge risk. There are many Christians who take their faithdead seriously, and any attempt at satire is nothing short ofblasphemy, but as Kevin Smith said in the introduction to Dogma "EvenGod has a sense of humor...look at the Duckbill Platypus." Where thisfilm doesn't work is probably the last 30 minutes, in which Mary triesto be the voice of reason. It just felt too forced and preachy, and itseemed obvious that the screenwriters were running out of steam. Therewas a better way to convey the message here.All in all, this is an enjoyable movie for those who can standChristian satire. In my hierarchy of movies, I would rank this aseither rent or buy.

David Noh 2013-02-26 09:56:45

A breezily irreverent teen comedy that satirically addresses questions of peer pressure as well as spiritual hypocrisy.

Roedy Green 2013-02-24 14:27:20

Lampoon of Modern Christianity

This is a lampoon of the hypocrisy, silliness, venality, irrationality,one-upmanship, dogmatism, conceit, self-centredness, homophobia,grandiosity, pettiness and many other sins of modern Christianity.Christianity is portrayed as some silly parlour game played by theintellectually challenged. Usually such caricatures are played as olderpinched women. Here they are exemplified by glamorous teens,particularly the dazzling perfect Hillary Fae played by Mandy Moore.The movie opened featuring a sexy gay boyfriend Dean (Chad Faust) andhis girl friend (Jena Malone) hoping to "save" him. His parents whiskhim off to "Mercy House" to be cured. I kept expecting this plot lineto be developed but it was just dropped until the very last few momentsof the movie when Dean finally reappears. This generates the irritatingfeeling of a loose thread all through the movie.The movie would be much more fun with much of the padding trimmed.There is a ton of material that is not that interesting or funny anddoes not advance the plot. It smells of "filler".There are some brilliantly funny scenes, -- a kidnapping supposedlymotivated by the love of Jesus, throwing a Bible at someone's back todemonstrate how filled with Christ's love is the thrower, the gay boywho finally meets his true love at the detention home designed to"cure" him, the outing of a gay boy to the entire school out ofcompassion for him.

2013-02-24 09:21:13

Saved!

Set in a not-extremely-conservative Christian fundamentalist high school (witness the amusingly-hip "Pastor Skip"!) this movie is an excellent satire of modern Christian fundamentalism, especially the glaring hypocrisy, and the self-serving and phony hyper-righteousness of some of it's adherents. The plot unfolding from a crisis of faith that one young woman at the school experiences after her Christian boyfriend admits to her (underwater, no less!) that he's Gay, this movie is very well-produced, filmed, scripted and acted, featuring actors such as (forgive the vague identification of some here!): Susan Sarandon's daughter; MacCaulay Culkin; the young woman who played Donnie Darko's girlfriend; Mandy Moore; one of the Arquette sisters; George Wendt; Adam Arkin; and a guy who looks like a friend of my sister Kathy's from high school. Funny, realistic, poignant, meaningful, politically charged, sexy and romantic all together, it does not demean Christianity in general (though I'm sure that some people would find it quite blasphemous) but simply points out that life is too complicated to be easily dealt with by an overly simplistic and blindered world view as is -- to be fair -- practiced by not only Christian fundamentalists, but also by Islamic, and Jewish fundamentalists as well. As one of the characters asks: "If God wanted us to all be the same, then why did he make us all so different?!" I highly recommend it!! (Hey, I even got teary-eyed at the end... what more could you ask for?)

2013-02-12 07:43:21

Faith Light or Hollywood Hypocrisy.

When saved was released in theatres, I had several acquaintances and friends tell me that it was a really good movie. I was told that it dealt honestly with faith and that I should see it because "it's also a Christian movie." I was a bit surprised by some of these words of praise because they came from people who were mainly atheists and agnostics. I wasn't able to see the movie when it was in theatres and forgot about the film until I happened to see it while browsing at a local video store. I was in a reflective mood and wanted to watch something at least slightly philosophical and I thought SAVED! would be a good choice.The movie revolves around Mary (Jena Malone). Mary is going to be a high school senior at American Eagle Christian High School (notice the name of the school--it's supposed to be a joke). Mary's dating a really cute guy named Dean (Chad Faust). Despite their upbringing, Dean's pressured Mary to have sex, but Mary wants to preserve her virginity until she's married and she's resisted. Then Dean starts to exhibit some homosexual tendencies and reveals to Mary that he thinks he's gay. Mary is upset and prays about what is happening. In what she believes is an answer to her prayer, she believes she sees Jesus in a swimming pool and takes that as a sign that she's supposed to have sex with Dean to save him from turning gay. Dean's parents find gay pornography in Dean's room and ship him off to a place that supposedly specializes in "degayification." This opening set up is just the beginning of the movie, but it says a great deal about what the movie is really about. Mary's "revelation" is supposed to be funny. It's also supposed to be ironic that Mary, a goody-two-shoe who is known for promoting abstinence becomes pregnant the first time she has sex with a man who has given in to his homosexual tendencies. It's all supposed to be fun and in good humor. But that's where the filmmakers fail. There isn't anything funny at all about Mary's vision--God never asks a person to commit a sin in his name; God will not ask someone to do something that is against his nature. As for Mary's pregnancy, it becomes the central plot device through the rest of the film, but really isn't ironic (partially because of biology) and is more sad than anything else. From the opening scenes it becomes clear that though the filmmakers pretended to make a satirical drama about Christian fundamentalism, they failed to do so because they show very little knowledge about Christian faith and how things operate at a Christian school.As for the rest of the movie's plot, Mary returns to school and her close knit group of friends, including the school's favorite daughter, Hilary Faye (Mandy Moore). At first things seem normal, but as Mary begins to deal with the very real issue of having a baby inside of her, it seems to her that Hilary and all of her old brigade are a bunch of pious fakes and hypocrites. Mary starts hanging out with a new crowd that includes the school's only "Jewish" student, Cassandra (Eva Amurri)--which is another inaccuracy by the filmmakers because Cassandra is Jewish in name only; Hilary's handicapped younger brother Roland (Macaulay Culkin); and the new principal's skater son, Patrick (Patrick Fugit). Mary's old friends initially want to bring her back into the fold and even attempt to kidnap her to exercise whatever demons are within her. Of course, after that the once-best friends become arch rivals and Mary becomes just another outcast. Mary doesn't even feel comfortable talking to her mother (Mary-Louise Parker) because she is involved in a "secret" relationship with Mary's principal, Pastor Skip (Martin Donovan). One thing follows another until the climax at the school's prom.Since seeing this film I have read many other comments and reviews about it and there are many who believe it is an anti-Christian movie. In fact, according to director Brian Dannelly, several Christians working on the film quit and during the production after realizing the full extent of the movie, a church, a Christian rock band, and the homeowner whose house was to be used for important scenes pulled out of productions because of objections over the movie's unflattering content. I can understand why people would be offended by the film and can see why they think it is anti-Christian.Personally, I do not believe that. However, it is quite apparent that the filmmakers didn't know the first thing about real Christianity. I think the writers either took every incident they have ever heard about (no matter how remotely) evangelical Christians doing crazy (and usually stupid) things and set them in a Christian high school so they could make a formula teen drama movie that preaches a message they like to hear, one about tolerance. [...]That's not to say that SAVED! is a terrible movie because it's not. It is a typical teen drama, but it offers some extraordinary acting. Jena Malone, Many Moore, Patrick Fugit, and the rest of the cast give some superb performances. They bring humanity and life to what could have been just cardboard characters. Especially impressive is Macaulay Culkin; anyone who has any doubts talent as an actor should watch this film to erase those doubts. The movie, though formulaic, is well-paced and only looses steam at the conclusion.Overall SAVED! is basically another teen drama, but one that desperately wants people to discuss issues the movie raises. I don't fault the movie for that, but I do fault the film for the way it presents certain issues. The movie could have raised itself about the genre and actually been meaningful, but instead it turns out to be a bigger hypocrite than some of the ones portrayed in the film.

2013-02-11 20:09:44

Sick

Biased, there's no argument about it.saved! mocks Christianity and tries to justify doing so with a half-hearted hypocritical message.But keep in mind this is still a teen film and treated as such to draw and appeal to the target audience. The basic plot is predictable (a terrible structure and conclusion) and the acting is poor. The dialogue is often rushed by the young actors and at times barely audible, a result of amature film making.Realize that this is a product that was marketed to you and nothing more than that. You were exploited by Hollywood.

Robert Vann Smith 2013-01-29 18:08:13

Hallelujah ! Amen !

That's about all I could say at the end of this movie.I was skeptical about seeing this movie when I decided to see it, but sinceI have been a fan of Macaulay Culkin and Jena Malone's for many years now, Ithough I would give it a try.Yeah --- the movie was chocked full of "Christian" cliches --- just as Ithought it would be. I couldn't help but laugh at much of the humourousexaggerated cliches during the movie. But, the movie didn't end like Ithought it would.The characters all finally learned that even though many Christians try tomake the Bible "black-and-white" and "cut-and-dry", the thing is, it can betaken either way. The Bible has gone from being "black-and-white" to beingfull of grays.Or, at least, people's "interpretations" need not be so"black-and-white".It's time many Christians wake up and see the light and stop being sojudgemental and condemning.Maybe this movie will teach a few of them this very lesson.

thoms1 2013-01-29 05:07:44

Can I no longer depend on IMDb ratings?

Can I no longer depend on IMDb ratings? I watched this movie based on a7+ rating at IMDb and initially thought that it might be a worthwhileeffort. It started off as an irreverent, slightly off beat piece in thevain of "Dogma." However, any comparison between the two is ill placed.It was just another formula, high school venue, good girl (really bad)bad girl (really good) teen angst movie. Other comments regardingcasting, don't really matter, as any young appearing actor or actresswould have been left with the same crappy script and the results wouldhave moved it 1/2 star either way. The script was pure AnnetteFunicello with a fifties morality and everything working out "justswell" at the end. Bart & Lisa might have done this justice with alittle script re-work. I give it a rousing 2 out of 10!