CRITIQUE

Mary is a model Christian: the right friends, the right boyfriend, an involved, Christian mother, and a place in the social stratosphere at her school.  Everything is going swimmingly for her… until she discovers that her boyfriend, Dean (Chad Faust), is gay.  Conflicted, Mary sacrifices her virginity in an attempt to pull him back from the homosexual damnation she is sure he will face.  Her ploy does not work, and Dean’s parents discover his homosexuality.  They quickly ship him off to Mercy House, a hospital that specializes in “degayification.”  Mary ends up pregnant, her solid Christian upbringing apparently never prepared her for some of life’s harsh realities.

The first half of Saved! is a brilliant satire of born-again Christianity, all of its trappings and small-mindedness.  The target for much it is Hilary Faye, the most fanatic of Mary’s friends, and the perfect picture of the stereotypical goody-goody Christian girl.  The scene at the shooting range hilariously shows the blinding hypocrisy and unwavering devotion of Hilary Faye’s views.  Of her virginity she says, “I’m saving it for marriage – by force if necessary,” as she pumps round after round after round into the target with painful accuracy.  The irony is that Hilary treats everyone around her like dirt, including her so-called friends.  She is as shallow and materialistic as the next person, but she cloaks it in the veil of being, well, saved.  Moore is perfect in this role; she is Hilary Faye.  She makes the character so real, so familiar.  Moore’s Hilary forces her values on others because she does not know any better.

Rather than try to sustain the same tone throughout the film, it smartly moves from the satire of its first half to an exploration of values and tolerance.  This is not to say that the film’s second half is any less humorous than the first; quite the opposite.  The film gets deeper as we follow the characters throughout their school year.  The characters who come out ahead are the ones who rebel against their strict upbringing.  Mary’s mother tries to sell her out so she can maintain a relationship with the school principal.  Dean’s parents ship him off at the drop of a hat rather than actually dealing with their issues.  In these people we see the folly of setting a moral and ideological standard that none of them can ever possibly live up to.  That they know they can never live up to it and still hold it up as the model of perfect living makes their situation all the more pathetic.  Mary wins in the end because she finds God on her own terms.

What makes Saved! so funny (and, depending on your point of view, so scary) is its spot on depiction of bible thumping youth.  Anyone who has spent any kind of time around the kind of die hard born-agains that the film depicts will recognize them instantly.  The characters, the situations, the dialogue is not far removed from the truth.  The characters are exaggerated a bit, but not to an unbelievable degree.  They are familiar.  The sad thing is that they all take themselves so seriously, all of them so caught up in their own beliefs that they never question any of it, and they are incapable of understanding outside those beliefs.  Saved! works, and it is important because it explores this side of our culture, and it shows how morals can be found outside of this rigorously structured existence.

Oh, and the film is also funny as hell.

THE VIDEO

Saved! is presented in the original 1.85:1 theatrical aspect ratio.  The picture looks great, crisp, and all the colors come through sharply.

THE AUDIO

This DVD is presented in English 5.1 Dolby Surround.  The presentation is sharp, with all channels coming through clearly.

THE EXTRAS

Audio commentary by Brian Dannelly, Sandy Stern, and Michael Urban: The producer, director and writer talk about making the film on a low budget, how certain scenes were done and how locations were chosen.

Audio commentary by Mandy Moore and Jena Malone: The two stars of the movie talk about making the film, shooting in Vancouver, and other aspects of production.  This is an interesting look at film from an actor’s point of view.

“Heaven Help Us”: A behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film.  The cast and crew talk about how the film came about and who the characters are.  (5:00)

Deleted/extended scenes: 11 pieces of footage that were cut from the final film.  They are entertaining in their own way, but the film is no doubt strengthened by their deletion.

Bloopers: Not a gag reel, here we have four clips of scenes where the actors flub their lines.

Saved revelations: Shows the actors performing their scenes, with cutaways to show what they were really looking at while they were acting.  You can probably skip this one.

Theatrical trailer: The original trailer.

FINAL THOUGHTS