Saved! (2004)

When a girl attending a Christian high school becomes pregnant, she finds herself ostracized and demonized, as all of her former friends turn on her.

Director:

Brian Dannelly

Writers:

Brian Dannelly, Michael Urban

Stars:

Jena Malone, Mandy Moore, Macaulay Culkin

1 win & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jena Malone	...	Mary
Mandy Moore	...	Hilary Faye
Macaulay Culkin	...	Roland
Patrick Fugit	...	Patrick
Heather Matarazzo	...	Tia
Eva Amurri Martino	...	Cassandra
Chad Faust	...	Dean
Elizabeth Thai	...	Veronica
Martin Donovan	...	Pastor Skip
Mary-Louise Parker	...	Lillian
Kett Turton	...	Mitch
Julia Arkos	...	PE Coach
Donna White	...	Trudy Mason
James Caldwell	...	Hairdresser
Nicki Clyne	...	Guitar Player

Storyline

Mary is a good Christian girl who goes to a good Christian high school where she has good Christian friends, mainly Hilary Faye, and a perfect Christian boyfriend, Dean. Her life seems perfect, until the day that she finds out that Dean may be gay. After "seeing" a vision of Jesus in a pool, she does everything in her power to help him turn straight, including offering up her virginity. But none of it helps because Dean's caught and sent to a "degayification" center and Mary ends up pregnant. It's during her time of need that she becomes real friends with the school's set of "misfits," including Cassandra, the school's only Jewish girl; Roland, Hilary Faye's wheelchair-bound brother, and Patrick, the skateboarder son of the school's principal, Pastor Skip; whilst Hilary Faye turns her into a social outcast.

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Plot Keywords:

school | christian | pastor | gay | jewish | 

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Taglines:

Heaven Help Us.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for strong thematic issues involving teens - sexual content, pregnancy, smoking and language

Details

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 September 2004 (Germany)

Also Known As:

¡Salvados!

Filming Locations:

Clayton Heights Secondary, Surrey, British Columbia, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$5,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$1,600 (Hong Kong) (24 December 2004)

Gross:

$3,453 (Hong Kong) (24 December 2004)

Company Credits

Production Co:

United Artists, Single Cell Pictures, Infinity Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

92 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The role of Hilary Faye was originally given to Anne Hathaway, but funding fell through and Hathaway was due to start Ella Enchanted. This led to Hathaway being replaced by Mandy Moore.

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Goofs

When Hilary and Tia are in the cafeteria on Valentine's Day, their soda cans clearly read in French "Diète Coke," the way Canadian cans would. It is unlikely they would be drinking Canadian soda in Maryland.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Mary: [voice over] I've been born again my whole life... accepting Jesus.

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Connections

References The Wizard of Oz (1939)

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Soundtracks

"Jesus Swims"
Written and Performed by Blair Aaronson

User Reviews

Funny, Sharp and genuinely Sweet

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.