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Saved!
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DVD Cover InformationActor: Heather Matarazzo, Jena Malone, Macaulay Culkin, Mandy Moore, Patrick Fugit Brand: MOORE,MANDY DVD: Region Code 1 Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1 Format: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, NTSC Picture Format: 1.85:1 Running Time: 92 minutes DVD Release Date: 2004-10-05 Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Movie Reviews of Saved!Movie Review: The best teen comedy to date. Summary: 5 Stars
Forget all the hype you've heard about this movie. Forget the critics who consider it a great satire on religious fundamentalism and intolerance. Forget the critics who complain that it's not satirical enough, that it missed a great opportunity and went soft on religious fundamentalism. And forget the zealots who say this movie is nothing more than an attack on Christianity. Go into this film knowing that its foundation is a teen comedy and you'll probably come out feeling the same way I did; that you've just seen the best teen comedy of your life.
When I first saw this movie, I posted a review and gave it three stars. I can't stress how much I regret that now. I don't think I knew what to really make of it. I saw some of the reviews and heard some of the complaints about it, and think I watched it with slightly clouded judgment. Since then, I've seen it a few more times and am no longer hung-up on whether the movie is trying to impart a political opinion on me. I am able to see it for what's really there; a film with more heart than one of this type should have.
You'll be surprised by how many touching scenes there are in this movie. Seriously, they're some of the most moving moments you'll ever see in a teen comedy and they just keep coming. The best one takes place in the school's bathroom where the heroine, a teenager who's alone and friendless, carrying a secret burden many adults can't even handle, is tricked into confessing the secret by an antagonist. She breaks down and starts to cry, and is quickly befriended by the girl. Words can't describe what an unbelievably moving moment that is. It's the best I've ever seen in a teen comedy, and I grew up in the 80's, I've seen them all. After watching movies like this for some twenty plus years, I've been conditioned to believe we're not supposed to get moments like that in movies like these. What a wonderful surprise. It's a scene that caused the theater to grow quiet, except for a few moans of "Oh" and "Aw", where people suddenly reached for their pop to help wash down the lump in their throat (I'm not exaggerating, an elderly gentleman sitting next to me had to dry his eyes). I'm a guy, and therefore can't admit to getting tearful, but if I were a chick . . .
There are a lot of scenes like that in this movie. Some take place after her boyfriend is sent away; she is hurt and confused, and incapable of understanding how something like that could happen. In one scene, where the heroine first learns a crushing revelation, there is no dialog, we just see the expression on her face (Malone is amazing) yet it's absolutely heartbreaking. There's another, similar to that, near the end of the movie, where her secret is revealed. Or the scenes with her romantic interest in the film, Patrick. He's the good-natured son of the pastor, who tries to court her. He knows she likes him so can't understand why she rejects him. Another, when Mary's (Malone) mom is about to send her away. They're sitting on the bed packing a suitcase when Mary asks if she ruined her mom's life. Her mom leaves the room without answering her question and the camera shows Mary sitting alone on her bed, shaking her head, trying to understand. Wow (I should probably remind you, at this point, that this is a teen comedy).
There's also a surprisingly good scene between the pastor and Mary's mom, Lillian. They're at a Valentines Day dinner and she's staring longingly over at another couple who are sharing a romantic kiss. The pastor feels guilty about their relationship and has difficulty expressing his affection for her. Here was a great idea, a romantic scene between the adults that was just as tender and thoughtful as the romantic scenes between the kids.
There are many other scenes like these, I couldn't describe them all in under 1000 words, but none of them are depressing. Sad, touching, moving, sweet, funny, heartbreaking, romantic: there are a lot of adjectives I could use to describe this film but it always seems headed in a positive and upbeat direction. There is a unique combination of story, acting, direction, and even music that produced something so rare I've never seen it before: a teenage comedy with more heart than any melodramatic, mega production Hollywood will pimp out around Oscar time.
Summary of Saved!Good girl Mary (Jena Malone) and her best friend Hilary Faye (Mandy Moore) are at the top of the food chain at American Eagle Christian High School. But all that is about to change in this "subversively funny" (USA Today) teen comedy about hype, hypocrisy and high school. Also starring Macaulay Culkin and Patrick Fugit, Saved! is "a boldly hilarious satire" (Rolling Stone)! Classic teen comedy mixes with cunning satire in Saved!. Fervent Christian Mary (Jena Malone, Donnie Darko) believes God wants her to save her gay boyfriend by sleeping with him. But he gets sent to an anti-gay indoctrination camp while she ends up pregnant--which starts to drive a wedge between Mary and her snotty best friend Hilary Faye (Mandy Moore, How to Deal). Meanwhile, they're both interested in the son (Patrick Fugit, Almost Famous) of their Christian school principal (Martin Donovan, Trust). Saved! respects faith but gleefully mocks the excesses and absurdities of contemporary organized religion, particularly its suburban, let's-speak-the-language-of-the-kids manifestations. The actors, including Macaulay Culkin (yes, from Home Alone) and Mary Louise Parker (Fried Green Tomatoes), play their parts with sincerity, which makes the fusion of humor and heart succeed. A delightful movie. --Bret Fetzer
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