Last night Denis and I finally got around to watching “Saved!” the supposedly snarky movie about a Christian high school. It had a decent cast – Mandy Moore, Jena Malone, Heather Matarazzo, Macauley Culkin, Mary-Louise Parker, Patrick Fugit – all decent actors (yes, even Mandy Moore).
The tale is about a girl who grows up a Christian (Malone) and mistakenly thinks Jesus comes to her in a vision and tells her to sleep with her gay boyfriend to make him not be gay anymore. Well, one time is all it takes and weeks later (after her gay boyfriend has been sent to a home for wayward Christian teens) she finds out she’s pregnant. She’s horrified that her pal Hillary Faye (played by Moore) will find out, since HF is the end-all-be-all Christian girl at the school.
It’s obvious that the writer grew up in a Christian environment – he nails some of the over-the-top ways the current Church tries to “speak to modern teens”. That part made me laugh, actually.
I didn’t feel that the movie is necessarily a NEGATIVE one about Christians so much as snarky one. As a Christian I wasn’t offended, but then – I’m the liberal one in my family. I’d be curious to know what my sister would say about the movie if she saw it.
For myself, I liked it. I didn’t love it, but I liked it.
3 stars out of five.
I also saw “In America” this weekend, which is the tale of an Irish family that moves to NYC in the early 1980s. The two girls befriend an artist (Djimon Hansou) in the apartment below them. The two girls were precious, the story a bit dark, but well acted. I must have been tired because it took me at least 2/3rd of the movie to realize what was up with the artist. Normally I would have picked up on it earlier. Samantha Morton played the mother, and I just love her. She’s come a long way since her roles as a teenager and is now a thoughtful actress with a lot of intensity. I recommend this movie as a rental for sure.
3 1/2 stars out of five.
I laughed so much with Saved. It reminded me when I went to church in Dallas where singing was a major part of their preaching. I had to see it twice before returning it to blockbuster.
In America was like Cinema Paridisio(sp) for me. You didn’t ‘get it’ and you’re not supposed to until the end. At times the movie dragged, but the ending was so sweet. I balled, it was really good.
I’m ambivalent about seeing Saved. It’s not in my queue…yet.
I loved In America. Cried like a baby.
Loved “In America” too – Why are ALL Irish films so depressing and sad though?
I loved “Saved”…although it was almost as entertaining watching the other Dallasites who came to see it. I’m not sure what they were expecting, but many of them (as gauged by the post-movie bathroom chatting) expected some sort of documentary about teenagers at religious high schools. D’oh!