Review of Saved! (2004) by Trevor R — 27 Apr 2014
An occasionally clever teen comedy that can never quite reconcile the biting satire of the first half with the cloying sentimentality of the second. Jena Malone and Mandy Moore are both terrific (with the latter earning one of the film's few winning moments, throwing a Bible while defensively yelling "I am filled with Jesus love!"), but McCauley Culkin's brand of droll detachment is merely dull while Patrick Fugit is never convincing as the heroic heart-throb he's painted as.
The film continually seeks to highlight the ironic dichotomy among the fundamentalist Christian right: hypocrisy runs rampant as the people seemingly most committed to Jesus are the ones that seem to forget his advocacy of universal compassion. It's a theme worth exploring, but the takeaway message feels more obligatory than earned--and more than a bit insulting to people of faith-- with the key to being a good person essentially boiling down to "abandon your religion" rather than "live your religion.".
"Saved!" has its moments, but overall it didn't work for me.
This review of Saved! (2004) was written by Trevor R on 27 Apr 2014.
Saved! has generally received positive reviews.
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