Saved!
Mary is a good Christian girl who goes to a good Christian high school where she has good Christian friends and a perfect Christian boyfriend. Her life seems perfect, until the day that she finds out that her boyfriend may be gay — and that she’s pregnant.
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- Cast:
- Jena Malone , Mandy Moore , Macaulay Culkin , Patrick Fugit , Eva Amurri Martino , Heather Matarazzo , Martin Donovan
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Reviews
I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much
Thanks for the memories!
It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.
It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny
In age when teen comedies are dominated by sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll, this movie, brought us to by Brian Dannelly, offers a slightly more conservative touch to the largely populated genre. That is a trip to the world of Christianity, or in other words, a religious satire of teens coming to terms with challenges that put their faith to the test. Capitalizing on an underpopulated blend of cheeky PG-13 humor and bold social commentary on religion, this movie offers good-spirited wit that makes the best of its attempts to pitting viewers with satirical jabs at teen Christianity without diving into execution that could rub Christians the wrong way. It does so, unfortunately, by playing things safe to the point where too many punches are pulled and good laughs come few and far in between. On the other hand, one of the biggest accomplishments it holds is by delivering a kindhearted, if occasionally bold tale without being forceful with its predictable message. So, you won't have to go in expecting an hour-and-half sermon. The film follows high school senior Mary Cummings (played by Jena Malone), a born-again teen girl attending a Christian high school with her friends Hilary Faye (played by Mandy Moore), a devout Christian who strives to get everyone in her class "saved", and Veronica (played by Elizabeth Thai), a Vietnamese girl raised by an African-American couple. Then there is Hilary's handicapped brother Roland (played by Macaulay Culkin) who falls short of Christian faith and falls of a Jewish, cigarette-smoking outsider Cassandra (played by Eva Amurri Martino) who's doesn't quite fall into the category of a good girl. Upon learning her boyfriend Dean (played by Chad Faust) is gay, Mary tries to save him; and her does by losing her virginity to him, only for this parents to send him way to something called the "Mercy House". When she discovers she is pregnant, she becomes subject to unwanted social rejection by her friends who began to turn on her. There is plenty of poking fun at Christianity which some of the conservative right, predictably so, did not take too kindly to. By no means does this film try to push the boundaries with raunchiness or mean-spirited hostility against believers of Christ. Director Brian Dannelly's approach fires a few good moments of laughter such as a scene in which the lead character makes performs a questionable act in attempt to get boyfriend her boyfriend to divorce from his homosexuality. After all, being gay is a big no-no in the Christian community. Sadly, there just isn't enough good jokes to go around. The film's attempts at satirizing the devout religious nature of the characters are less satisfying and struggle to hit the dynamics of the culture in which teens who grew up in households where attending church was a requirement. There is an overarching belief that establishing a character with faith requires him or her say Jesus in nearly every single line, which happens so with Mandy Moore's Hilary who grows into hypocrisy when her former best friend is nine months from becoming a mother. Balancing kind-hearted humor and religious subtext can be tough trick to pull off, especially when trying to perform the former without tapping into humor Christ-followers may deem edgy. But the film's satire on faith often too shallow borders on the line of pushing a ham-fisted agenda. On the other hand, it doesn't take away from the performances by Jena Malone, Macauley Culkin, Mandy Moore, and Elizabeth Thai who play their roles with good spirits. Patrick Fugit; playing a skateboarder and son of church pastor is fine as well, while Eva Amurri Martino burns fuel as the "bad girl" of the crowd who looks at everyone's spirituality with a cold shoulder. In the end, at least holds a kind heart rather than thrusting with an hostile attitude towards either side of the religious spectrum. Saved! isn't a home-run in the crowd of teen comedies, or does it meet the criteria of a finely-crafted "Mean Girls at bible school" tale. But the film offers just barely enough cleverness and heart to compensate for the flawed satire that gives the story momentum. Religious or not, it is not too great, or it is definitely not an overtly conventional drama with a hammy agenda that would have otherwise rendered the film into a cheesy afterschool special.
This movie is very entertaining, especially if you have interacted with fundamentalist evangelicals at some point in your life. In the U.S., there is still a hostile debate between fundamentalists and atheists in the south on the issue of evolution, which made the 'Creationism' poster in the back of the classroom both realistic and hilarious. There are 17-18 year old's in this film with some very interesting beliefs about homosexuality, prayer, etc. Every goofy part of Christianity is touched on, ripped apart, and sometimes re-hashed in later scenes. I viewed this film with my relatively conservative Christian parents, and they still found it quite enjoyable, relating some of the 'crazies' to people they've met in churches and Christian colleges. A few scenes in this movie reminded me of instant classics like Breakfast Club, Ferris Beuler, etc. I especially liked the ones between the preacher's son and Jena Malone's character. The almost- kiss in the mall was memorable. Mandy Moore does a great job being the "Mrs. God" character. Her throwing the Bible was probably one of the funniest movie scenes (I've known a couple Christians who did this to people they were trying to convert).The only reason I don't think this film was bigger or perhaps higher on the IMDb scale, is because it focuses just a little too much on hyperboles of dumb Christian behavior. I'd argue that the same plot and actors with a slightly different tone (less cheese, more realism) would have made this a classic teen film like Mean Girls or Juno.
Mary Cummings (Jena Malone), is an American Eagle Christian High School senior at the top of the social order as part of the Christian Jewels with her friends, Hilary Faye (Mandy Moore) and Veronica (Elizabeth Thai). While hanging out at the swimming pool in Mary's backyard, her boyfriend, Dean Withers (Chad Faust), tells her he might be gay. Her surprised reaction causes Mary to bump her head and she sees what believes is a religious vision telling her to try and help save Dean. After a conversation with Hilary about spiritual rebirth, in a shooting range of all places, Mary comes to the conclusion that she will sacrifice her physical virginity to help Dean. Despite all this, Mary learns that Dean's parents find a stash of gay pornography in his room and send him to a spiritual retreat/psychological clinic to be deprogrammed or 'cured' of his homosexuality. To her further shock, Mary believes she might be pregnant.Her pregnancy makes her an outcast, so Mary befriends Jewish student Cassandra (Eva Amurri), Hilary's brother Dean(Macaulay Culkin) and the principal Pastor Skip's son Dean (Patrick Fugit) who form a new system of support for her. Everybody seems to hiding something in this movie, including Pastor Skip, who's separated but divorced and carrying on a relationship with Cassandra's single mom. Everything comes to a head by the time for prom, though.
Like the serpent in the Garden of Eden, this movie is very deceptive. It starts out innocently enough but it soon becomes clear that it is anything but pro-Christian unless Christians choose to look at it as a cautionary tale to keep the faith. Once it does become clear that the film is anti-religion it comes as no surprise during the end credits that the "technical" authority is a book entitled "The Case Against God" - an atheist tome. No wonder so many of the comments on this board are positive from kids who already don't believe in God. This movie must have been right up their alley. The villains of the film are all Christians and the heroes are the teens who rebel against God. Not even the adults are depicted as being able to properly mentor the kids in the right ways of God. The Mandy Moore character is played over the top and only accepted when she too seems to lose her faith. The others: a girl who gets knocked up trying to "save" her gay boyfriend; Moore's crippled brother; a misfit Jewish troublemaker and even the school principal's missionary son all rebel against the faith and come off the good guys. They even crash the school prom (at an obviously parochial school) for what reason, really? They claimed they had a right to attend but really? What right did a 9-month pregnant girl and a couple of gay boys have to crash this prom? Their answer: Jesus loves us too. As I said, if Christians want to view the film as a way society tries to vilify it, then fine. If not, it only reinforces the atheism rampant among youth today.