Saved! Il paradiso ci aiuta

The non Christians who were involved in this production probably never stepped inside a church in their lives yet they feel free to dump on believers in Christ as a lunatic fringe and not the majority. It's non-believers who are in the minority in this country. A little perspective please.

Go into most churches today and you generally see white haired little old ladies and gentlemen and their simple families humbly reading the Bible, praying for others, collecting donations to help missions and the community, worshipping Jesus Christ and laughing, singing, fellowshipping. What is it about this humble group that so offends the elite non-believing hypocrites in Hollywood? That we don't vote the way you vote? That we don't all have the money you have?

This is just another blind attempt to lump all believers who care about biblical truth and morality into some fantasy group that has never existed. Most Christians would step in front of a truck and give their lives for any person in trouble, even a liberal. No man hath any greater love than this, that he give up his life for his friends. Most Christians would help an unwed pregnant girl in trouble, not condemn her. This film is ridiculous.

Maybe if the producers of this inept stereotypical film set foot in a church someday they might discover how wrong they were. Maybe they'd even find God themselves. What a concept!

Saved! is a movie that will get to the hearts of people everywhere. It so poignantly captures the hardships and comedies of being a teenage girl.

Jena Malone is Mary, a typical teen attending a Christian school. After finding out her boyfriend is gay, a vision of Jesus provokes her to "cure" him by sleeping with him. But when Christian Mary finds out that she is pregnant, all hell breaks loose! She tries to hide the pregnancy, but it becomes difficult. Mary is shunned by her outgoing and devoutly Christian friend Hilary Faye (Mandy Moore), and finds solace with the uniquely rebellious Cassandra (Eva Amurri), who also happens to be the only Jew in the school. Mary also finds a friend in Patrick (Patrick Fugit), the pastor's son. Mary puts up with a lot from Hilary Faye and her friends trying to save her- even the pastor gets involved: "I want you to help" ... "You mean shoot her?" "No... I was thinking something a little less 'gangsta'". But when Hilary Faye goes too far, Cassandra, Mary, Patrick, and Hilary Faye's cool but wheelchair-bound brother Roland (Macaulay Culkin) team up to let Hilary Faye know that she can be "down with G-O-D", but has to be understanding of others as well.

The movie is full of hilarious lines and activities, but it remains believable. Malone portrays a typical teenager who is just trying to fit in and have fun despite her differences. Parts of the movie had me cracking up and quoting it for days on end, other parts were tear-provokingly sweet. As a whole, Saved! is one movie that you can't afford to miss. It just may save us all.

As a non-Christian with left-leaning views, I was looking forward to watching Saved! due to favorable reviews from friends. Although I enjoyed the movie, I was disappointed by the heavy-handed, one-sided nature of the film. The acting was good, but the roles weren't so much characters as caricatures: The over-zealous, conniving hypocritical angel with a gorgeous face but a heart of coal. The non-Christian outcast reeking of immorality and sin but concealing a heart of gold. The brainwashed, disconnected, naive Christian mother. I'm sure these stereotypes do exist out there in the extreme-right, fundamental wing of American Christianity, but surely the majority are not the cardboard cutouts portrayed in Saved (I hope not!).

Ironically, the characters say it best when they point out that the world is not black and white. All in all, the film could have used a touch of subtlety. Furthermore, at times, due to the script and the background music, the film carried a made-for-TV, Nickolodeon tone. But I did laugh quite a bit and I understand the good intentions of the movie so I give it a 7 / 10 .

I am pleased to see a handful comments from Christians who were able to enjoy the movie and take it for what it is. There may be hope after all.

Despite losing its punch in the latter stages, "Saved!" remains an enjoyable and viciously funny satire. Poking fun of judgmental fundamentalists really isn't that tough a task or groundbreaking. They tend to spoof themselves. But what writers Brian Dannelly (who also directed) and Michael Urban do is not ridicule the fundamentalists' beliefs but their awful behavior. And that definitely deserves to be satirized.

The first 50 minutes are sensational, brimming with pointed dialogue, terrific humor and sharp observations about the preposterous idea of "degayification," the real reason people are sent to deprogramming centers and these teens obviously missing the true meaning of Christ's message.

But the film falters in the third act when it veers from clever satire to preaching about intolerance. It's a noble idea, but the punchy writing gets forsaken for the message. And the film concludes with a tired denouement. Surely, there are more original ways to conclude a high school film than one seen many times before.

Some of the characters, I suppose, could be seen as stereotypes. Then again, speaking from personal experience, the Hillary Fayes of this world exist and they're every bit as judgmental and nasty as she is. Unfortunately, Mandy Moore goes over-the-top a bit, often turning Hillary Faye into a broad caricature. That's a shame. Reining Moore in would have done wonders, because the other performances are uniformly good.

Macaulay Culkin turns in a fine performance as Roland. He finally might have shed his "Home Alone" image, proving he's capable of perfectly delivering sharp, well-written dialogue. The other revelation is young Eva Amurri, who has all the attitude, spunk (and I hope much of the talent) of her mother. She gives Cassandra a delightfully anarchic spirit; the film soars whenever she's on screen.

One peeve: Why does the radiant and sexy Mary-Louise Parker dress down so much in this film?

People who are judgmental about gays, teen pregnancy, other religions, and see life's myriad issues in purely black and white terms likely will be offended by this film - they might see themselves manifested as Hillary Faye. But if you appreciate life's gray areas and take delight in biting satire, you're bound to enjoy this film.

"Saved!" is by no means an attack on Christianity. Quite the contrary. It shows the importance of stressing in our lives the true side of Christianity - one that's about compassion, love and tolerance, and not the biased, judgmental approach that seeks to take control and bastardize religion, whatever it may be.

Although "Saved!" deals primarily with Christianity, it proves we'd all be better off adopting Mahatma Gandhi's ideals – that each and every one of us is a Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist and Jew.

I saw the trailers for this movie a looooong time ago and was very interested to see it, though I never got around to it. Now I've finally watched it and I'm happy that I did. In my view, this is essentially a movie about some of the issues with fundamentalism - it's not a complete panning of the Christian faith at all, let's get that straight!

I think everyone in the movie filled their roles particularly well, especially Mandy Moore as the obsessive Hilary Faye. Jena Malone grows on me more and more every time I see her, and this time was no exception. She was good in her small role in Contact, which I have to say I liked a bit more. Macaulay Culkin was also surprisingly good in his role - I didn't see "The Guy that was Kevin", but rather I saw is character. Some of the stuff he did and said was very funny too, like much of this movie.

My issue would be that the film pansies out a little at the end. To get me, you'd really have to watch it yourself. Just when you think the film might be going a certain direction, it turns back on itself to cover it's own behind.

Overall, entertaining and funny with good performances overall. More Jena Malone please.