Movie Notes: Saved!
= 3 stars
Starring Jena Malone, Mandy Moore, Macaulay Culkin
Directed by Brian Dannelly
Synopsis
Mary (Jena Malone), a senior at American Eagle Christian high school accidentally becomes pregnant, which is a very bad thing.
The Good
- I’m seriously unfamiliar with the world of suburban born-again Christians, so this was like a foreign film documenting an isolated culture and their strange and endearing ways.
- It’s satire… I think.
- Macaulay Culkin (yes, the Home Alone kid) plays a wry paraplegic that hooks up with the school’s only Jewish student.
The Bad
- Not really the film’s fault as it was made a while ago, but Saved! is a lesser Juno. It plays out like a TV dramatizations Mary’s mother (Mary-Louise Parker) love, with no surprises.
- One of the school girls is played by Mandy Moore, who I guess is a famous singer, but she made little impression on me.
Conclusion
Saved! is okay — entertaining enough, but not much else. If the subject matter interests you, it’s a decent rental.
IMBD: Saved!
Wikipedia: Saved!
Rotten Tomatoes: Saved! 60%
My wife and I saw both Saved and Juno in the last week and a half, coincidentally enough. There is definitely a satire element as both movies can be over the top, but it’s hard to have highest expectations for films that expect us to see from the position of high schoolers. It’s unfortunate, honestly, that the token Jewish character they had in the school was also the token freak-out, misbehaving, alcoholic girl who fooled around. I think it’d have been better to separate the two characters, or make her bad flaws unrelated to her religion.
Yeah, both films started with the same subject of teenage pregnancy but
treated them very differently. I prefered Juno immensely (gave it five
stars) — partly because it surprised me with some more mature angles on the
situation — in particular the supportive parents and the married adoptive
parents with their own issues. The sarcastic humor was also more my personal
taste.
I definitely agree with you about the Jewish girl — a lazy character. I
shudder to think what Saved! would have done with other religons.
Well I loved Juno =/ It’s very slow paced movie but it’s meaningful. =) Maybe I’ll just watch this cos Mandy Moore is in it
Juno is pretty =P
I love her show!
“Black Humour“‘s show is great