Saved!review by Todd Hertz | posted 5/28/2004 12:00AM
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Saved!
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MPAA rating: PG-13
(for strong thematic issues involvingteens—sexual content, pregnancy, smokingand language)
Theater release:
May 28, 2004
by United Artists
Directed by: Brian Dannelly
Runtime: 1 hour 33 minutes
Cast: Jena Malone (Mary), Mandy Moore (Hilary Faye), Macaulay Culkin (Roland), Patrick Fugit (Patrick), Martin Donovan (Pastor Skip), Mary-Louise Parker (Mary's Mom), Eva Amurri (Cassandra)
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Talk About It/Family Corner
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For over a year, evangelicals have feared Saved! would harshly attack them all as hypocritical, judgmental, and intolerant. The truth is, the movie is ultimately pro-faith and does make some perceptive criticisms of evangelicals. But not all is well.
The problem is a lack of balance between hypocritical, judgmental Christians and loving, accepting Christians. In fact, the movie almost exclusively shows two kinds of people—hypocritical, judgmental Christians who cause problems, and loving, accepting non-Christians who make things right.
Mandy Moore and Jena Malone
The film is set at a Midwestern Baptist high school and centers on Mary (Jena Malone), a devoted Christian who says Jesus is the center of her life. When her boyfriend, Dean (Chad Faust), reveals he's gay, Mary is so shocked she bumps her head. In a daze, she has a vision of Jesus telling her, "Dean needs you now. Do everything you can to help him." Mary chooses to do this by sleeping with him.
Before Mary finds out whether her therapy worked, Dean's parents learn of his sexual preference and sends him to Mercy House, a Christian rehab center specializing in "de-gayification." Soon after, Mary discovers she's pregnant and goes into a crisis of faith. How could God do this?
Macaulay Culkin, Mandy Moore, and Jena Malone
When other students find out her secret, they pour on the judgment and spite—especially the hypocritical holy-roller Hilary Faye (Mandy Moore). Mary finds support and compassion from the school's only non-Christians: the Jewish Cassandra (Eva Amurri) and Hilary Faye's wheelchair-bound brother Roland (Macaulay Culkin), who points out early on that he is not a Christian. The only Christian—although we don't hear much about his faith—who shows any acceptance to the lost and disgruntled Mary is her cardboard love interest, Patrick (Patrick Fugit), the principal's son.
For the most part, the basic idea behind Saved! is not all that offensive to Christians. It tries to document the journey of believers as they question faith, figure out its real meaning, and make it their own. The movie tries hard not to go after all Christians but instead points out that immature believers can easily miss Christ's message entirely.
In doing this, the movie explores—and satires—the sometimes hateful and hypocritical ways some Christians treat homosexuals and anyone with apparent sin. In addition, Saved! pokes fun at the Christian bubble evangelicals can live in—presenting their own awards like "Best Christian Interior Decorator." These criticisms are valid and could make some of us think about our behaviors—and that "bubble."
In fact, a few of the film's arguments will make Christians nod in agreement. When Dean is confronted by prejudice for being gay, he says, "I know in my heart Jesus still loves me." Similarly, when Hilary Faye realizes she's been hypocritical, she asks, "Do you think Jesus still loves me?" She's told, yeah, he does.
Macaulay Culkin as Roland
The movie even ends on a faith-affirming note when Mary, surrounded by loved ones, admits she may have misunderstood what God wanted when it came to helping Dean. But she asks: "So what would Jesus do? I don't know. But in the meantime, we'll figure it out together." Very well said.
The problem, though, is in the satire's messiness, mostly resulting from poor filmmaking. It is pro-faith, but three miscues confuse things and undermine its messages.
First of all, it's the non-Christians who exclusively provide all the lessons. For example, Cassandra's the only person to lovingly embrace Mary when discovering her pregnancy; Hilary Faye just abducts her and performs a forced exorcism. And when Hilary Faye eventually learns her lesson, it is Roland—a non-Christian—who tells her Jesus still loves her.
Second, Hilary Faye is so exaggerated—without an equal foil—that the unintended message is, "All evangelicals are like this." The point of the character is to show someone who doesn't get true Christianity, but when she comically throws the Bible at someone and yells, "I'm full of Christ's love," it doesn't say, "See, she doesn't get it." Instead, because there's no alternative, it communicates that Christians are crazy. Saved! needs a strongly positive, level-headed, loving Christian—firm in his or her faith—in order to counteract Hilary Faye's damage.
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