Review of Saved (2009) by Steve R — 12 Sep 2009

(potential spoilers ahead) American Eagle Christian High School is a seemingly squeaky clean, almost hip, institution with well-meaning teachers and students dedicated to their beliefs. Mary is one of the many straight-laced girls "living the life" with her best friend, Hilary Faye, played by Mandy Moore, and her perfect blond-haired, blue-eyed boyfriend, Dean. All is well in her world of isolation until Dean reveals that he thinks he's gay, she has a divine vision in her swimming pool, and then sets out to save Dean's soul by sacrificing her virginity to him. That foundation of her entire belief structure is suddenly comes under attack from all sides.

Saved is a film walking a line between spoon-fed satire and intelligent social commentary.

When we witness the girls target practicing at a place called the "Emmanuel Shooting Range" where the motto is "An Eye for an Eye", subtlety is obviously not the primary goal of the filmmaker. However, the relationships between the main characters are not black and white and that they do seem to struggle with their own beliefs and the attitudes toward others.

The script by Brian Dannelly is not brilliant, but is witty on a college freshman level. He is asking Ethics 101 type questions but is smart enough not to try and answer them all. He is attacking fundamentalism but not faith itself and he gives us characters with a little depth.

The film takes an unwelcomed turn toward embarrassing clichés with its climax taking place at the big prom dance for the 'final confrontation'. Quite a tired scenario. However, when the prom includes a very pregnant teenage protagonist, the baby's gay father discovering the product of his deflowering, and music from a band called God's Light playing in the background, we can see that this ain't a typical teen flick.

The satire is often biting, but is forgiving of those it targets.

Not a 'must see', but will probably spark some good post-movie discussions.