Saved! Il paradiso ci aiuta

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.

This film exceeded my already high expectations. The director and screenwriter have delivered an amazingly acute study of high school dialogue and interaction, while simultaneously exploring the polarizing landscape of evangelical Christianity in America and still delivering consistent laughs from start to finish.

The acting is superb. Martin Donovan (who routinely shines in Hal Hartley's films) here nimbly deconstruct his familiar grim sociopath persona to depict one of the most nuanced anti-heroes ever seen in a teen film. Jena Malone continues and deepens her fine work from Donnie Darko, creating one of the most moving teen heroines in memory. Eva Amurri is an inspired bit of casting as the multi-faceted school rebel who's full of surprises. And... it's true, Macaulay Culkin can act-- and even carries more than one scene with his understated comic timing

The storyline itself often leans on contrivance, but the situations presented ring true with an emotional depth rarely granted to pre-adult characters, and none of the events will seem off the wall to anyone familiar with modern adolescence or this particular religious subculture.

The film is blisteringly funny, unusually sharp in its look at different types of people and their individual frailties, and sweet-- possibly even, despite what else you may have read elsewhere, too sweet. The ending is the softest spot in the movie, but draws effectively on the hard-won empathy for each character to float to a graceful (ahem, pun intended) stop.

To be perfectly honest, as a reviewer who grew up in a very similar environment, I have to say that if the filmmakers could be accused of any distortion of the truth, it is in making their 'villains' *too* sympathetic, too keenly aware of their own flaws, and, in the end, too readily aware of a larger world around them to accurately reflect the worst elements of this belief system. All of the less-sympathetic characters in this film could be drawn from a documentary (yes, even Hilary Faye!)... if, that is, the documentary chose to edit out their least savory moments.

Of course, there are many good-hearted, well-meaning evangelicals in the world, and they are ably represented by characters such as Mary's mother, who makes mistakes, but who thinks more with her heart than her dogma. But the indignant critics who are so intent on finding a mote in the director's eye, because he dares to show how twisted some of their fellow believers might be, might stop for a minute to wave a hand in front of their own face, or their neighbor's, where they may just find a log they've been trying to ignore.

Not a bad movie for family consumption. Humorous and pushes its point home (that Christians should act like Christians and not bigots) without being too nasty. I watched with my wife and two high school daughters ... we all enjoyed it. Of course, if you're "sophisticated" you might sneer at this film -- but take it for what it is, a simple story with a talented young cast (the star, Jena Malone, is refreshing!), and you'll find it's worth the time spent to watch it and the money spent to rent it. If there's anything to criticize, it's the film's short length. They could have done much more with it in a longer format. However, that's a minor criticism. Overall the film is solid and enjoyable.

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.

A little background on myself for some perspective: I'm a middle-aged Roman Catholic single father of three, who attends church regularly (a few times per month) and generally leans a bit toward the right. I'm certainly not fanatical, but am somewhat spiritual. And just to clear up any misconception, Catholicism is, in fact, a Christian religion.

My teenaged son and I watched this movie together, and I don't know his impression specifically, but he did watch the entire movie, which is generally an indication he likes it. I enjoyed the movie as well, and did not find it to be in the least bit mean-spirited or anti-Christian. The main character never denounces God, but merely changes her perspective to one that's a bit less fanatical. The fact is, some people do go to extremes in their religious zeal (anyone familiar with 9/11), and simply depicting such a character in a movie hardly makes it anti-Christian. I think this movie represented a very accurate cross-section of religious attitudes in our society. If you are a religious zealot, or anti-religion zealot, you probably won't enjoy it because it doesn't lean in favor of either extreme. All others may find it worth the price of the rental.

And just to address some of the other reviewer comments - not wanting to regulate morality does not make one immoral, and if you think your sexual preference is a choice, think back to the time you CHOSE to be heterosexual.

Come now, you surely must remember a significant decision like that (and no, I'm not gay).