MovieManMenzel
04-19-2004, 07:39 PM
A funny, smart, witty, near perfect film with a lot of heart and spunk!
Needless to say, I have been anxiously awaiting the release of Saved to open in theaters. Due to MGM being worried about the controversy this film will stir up, Saved was moved from its April release date to Memorial Day weekend. I however was lucky enough to find out that Saved was premiering at the Newport Beach Film Festival and needless to say I was determined to go and so I did!
I have never been to a movie premiere before. I attended the Dickie Roberts world premiere last year however I did not have any access to any celebrities. I did see David Spade arrive but I wasn’t extremely close to him and oddly enough the world premiere I watched of Dickie Roberts was not in a theater with celebrities but in a theater with the average everyday people.
At the Newport Beach Film Festival, I actually attended the Saved premiere where I sat in a theater with the filmmakers and some of the actors who starred the film. I got to sit in the theater with the director and co-writer Brian Dannelly, as well as the other writer Michael Urban along with the film’s producer Michael Ohoven, and two of the film’s actors Patrick Fugit from Almost Famous and Spun, and Chad Faust from Hope Springs and the TV Mini-series Taken. Not to brag but I actually sat a few seats down from these guys and it was quite an exciting and memorable moment. I could imagine if Jena Malone and Mandy Moore were in the audience and they sat a few seats down from me I probably wouldn’t even be able to focus on the film instead I would probably be staring at them the whole time. Well anyway, as the film began everyone in the theater applauded as the opening credits rolled on and the magic of Saved began. So I begin my review by asking the question: Are you down with G-O-D?
Saved is a movie about life at a Christian school and how God wants good Christians to act. Jena Malone plays the lead role here as Mary, a girl who used to follow all the rules as the way she was told god wanted her to be until she began to question if what she is being taught, is what god really wants from her. After losing her virginity in an attempt to save her boyfriend Dean (Chad Faust) from turning gay and being sent to Mercy house which is where parents send their kids who don’t follow God’s way! After Mary’s plan backfires and she finds out that she is pregnant, Mary begins to question her trust in God and what path God wants her to lead. Mary’s best friend Hilary Faye played by Mandy Moore as the God’s way is the only way friend who is the by the book Christian who feels anything from having sex, to being Jewish, to being gay is a sin. It isn’t long before Mary feels that her friend Hilary is hypnotized by all this “God’s way” crap and Mary begins to lose all faith in God and her friends and she becomes friends with the Jewish outcast Cassandra (Eva Amurri) who accepts Mary for who she is and not for what she believes in. Cassandra has also accepted Macaulay Culkin’s character Roland, who is Hilary’s handicapped brother as her friend/boyfriend. A lot of funny yet smart moments proceed along with a thought proving ending that asks the question: How does God want us to act?
These actors got paid nothing to make this film, which I know because it was discussed at the Q&A discussion after the film’s premiere. I think Jena Malone was as perfect as always. Her performance of Mary was very well acted and scripted. When Mary finds out she is pregnant in the film we feel for her and understand her questioning her faith. Her emotions seem natural and from the heart. Another bravo performance for Jena Malone! Mandy Moore’s character Hilary was the character you love to hate as the psycho God obsessed Christian girl. She played this role flawlessly. If you don’t think Mandy can act well watch this movie and it will be sure to prove you wrong. I love her usually but this role really shows her acting abilities. Macaulay Culkin is perfect in this film. I loved him as the anti-Christian handicapped character. He was funny and yet he was never over the top. Patrick Fugit was also terrific as Pastor Skip’s son Patrick. He proves once again that he is a very strong actor and if you don’t believe me, be sure to check out Saved plus Almost Famous for evidence. Pastor Skip played by Martin Donovan was hilarious as the principal of the Christian high school. Pastor Skip wanted everyone to follow god’s way and teaches his students that following God’s set path is cool. The whole who’s down with G-O-D speech was truly hilarious and his whole innocent yet gangsta dialog about what god wants was a instant classic. And finally Eva Amurri’s character Cassandra sealed the films fun! Eva played the perfect outcast character, and I liked how she looked and truly stood out at this Christian school. It was hilarious watching her tease Hilary Faye because she was a by the book, Christian.
First time director Brian Dannelly should be proud of this film and finally I was able to tell a director my thoughts personally. I actually went up to the director after the film and shook his hand and told him how much I loved the film. He seemed very appreciative of all the comments he got from me and several other audience members. It seemed as though Brian Dannelly cared about what the audience thought about the film. I told him that he should be proud that he wrote and directed a terrific movie here. I told him that so many movies these days are crap and they have millions upon millions of dollars to use on the budget and the film ends up being total crap. Brian Dannelly made a great film that had a clever, smart, funny, thought provoking script and a terrific cast. I will be watching for more of him in the future. Brian also caught the emotions of the characters in the film and created this believable Christian god absorbed town where these characters lived.
The writing on this film was fabulous. With Brian Dannelly and Michael Urban both being first time screenwriters, I was amazed by how truly great and unique this film’s script was. The film had a clever story with very unique dialog. I was intrigued that the film’s script delivered both comedy and drama in a amusing but yet extremely smart way. The script leaves you happy in the end but asks questions, which make it very thought provoking to talk about afterwards. The film contained various hilarious scenes including one where Jena Malone’s character Mary starts to befriend Mandy Moore’s character Hilary Faye, and Hilary tries to perform an exorcist on Mary and then all of a sudden the exorcist theme begins and Hilary sprays Mary with holy water and tell her to come back from Satan. Truly hilarious! There are several other clever yet hilarious moments like that in the film.
So In conclusion I loved Saved and have nothing at all bad to say about it. The entire audience applauded the film when it ended. During the Q&A every comment said by an audience member was positive. This film turned out better than I ever expected it to be. Being able to see this film at its premiere allowed me to express my feelings even more. I learned from the director, producer, and the actors how long and how much time and effort was put into this film and how ironically this film almost didn’t happen at all. Saved provided its audience with a smart yet funny thought provoking story. The acting was terrific and all the trouble they went through to get this film released was amazing and in the end truly worth it in my eyes. I did not find this film to be anti anything although I can see this film stirring up some controversy when it is released unfortunately I doubt it will be seen by many since it’s opening in limited release on memorial day weekend in only 5 cities. I spoke to the director about this and I told him it sucked that it was only going to be released in limited release. He said MGM wouldn’t give it a wide release but he hopes it does well so that it can open wider. I hope so too. Because I think the film ultimately delivers both drama and comedy and talks about a serious issues including God and acceptance. I give Saved! a high rating of a 9/10. It is definitely my favorite film of the year thus far! Go see Saved when it’s released this Memorial Day weekend! I know I will be seeing again when it is released.
Needless to say, I have been anxiously awaiting the release of Saved to open in theaters. Due to MGM being worried about the controversy this film will stir up, Saved was moved from its April release date to Memorial Day weekend. I however was lucky enough to find out that Saved was premiering at the Newport Beach Film Festival and needless to say I was determined to go and so I did!
I have never been to a movie premiere before. I attended the Dickie Roberts world premiere last year however I did not have any access to any celebrities. I did see David Spade arrive but I wasn’t extremely close to him and oddly enough the world premiere I watched of Dickie Roberts was not in a theater with celebrities but in a theater with the average everyday people.
At the Newport Beach Film Festival, I actually attended the Saved premiere where I sat in a theater with the filmmakers and some of the actors who starred the film. I got to sit in the theater with the director and co-writer Brian Dannelly, as well as the other writer Michael Urban along with the film’s producer Michael Ohoven, and two of the film’s actors Patrick Fugit from Almost Famous and Spun, and Chad Faust from Hope Springs and the TV Mini-series Taken. Not to brag but I actually sat a few seats down from these guys and it was quite an exciting and memorable moment. I could imagine if Jena Malone and Mandy Moore were in the audience and they sat a few seats down from me I probably wouldn’t even be able to focus on the film instead I would probably be staring at them the whole time. Well anyway, as the film began everyone in the theater applauded as the opening credits rolled on and the magic of Saved began. So I begin my review by asking the question: Are you down with G-O-D?
Saved is a movie about life at a Christian school and how God wants good Christians to act. Jena Malone plays the lead role here as Mary, a girl who used to follow all the rules as the way she was told god wanted her to be until she began to question if what she is being taught, is what god really wants from her. After losing her virginity in an attempt to save her boyfriend Dean (Chad Faust) from turning gay and being sent to Mercy house which is where parents send their kids who don’t follow God’s way! After Mary’s plan backfires and she finds out that she is pregnant, Mary begins to question her trust in God and what path God wants her to lead. Mary’s best friend Hilary Faye played by Mandy Moore as the God’s way is the only way friend who is the by the book Christian who feels anything from having sex, to being Jewish, to being gay is a sin. It isn’t long before Mary feels that her friend Hilary is hypnotized by all this “God’s way” crap and Mary begins to lose all faith in God and her friends and she becomes friends with the Jewish outcast Cassandra (Eva Amurri) who accepts Mary for who she is and not for what she believes in. Cassandra has also accepted Macaulay Culkin’s character Roland, who is Hilary’s handicapped brother as her friend/boyfriend. A lot of funny yet smart moments proceed along with a thought proving ending that asks the question: How does God want us to act?
These actors got paid nothing to make this film, which I know because it was discussed at the Q&A discussion after the film’s premiere. I think Jena Malone was as perfect as always. Her performance of Mary was very well acted and scripted. When Mary finds out she is pregnant in the film we feel for her and understand her questioning her faith. Her emotions seem natural and from the heart. Another bravo performance for Jena Malone! Mandy Moore’s character Hilary was the character you love to hate as the psycho God obsessed Christian girl. She played this role flawlessly. If you don’t think Mandy can act well watch this movie and it will be sure to prove you wrong. I love her usually but this role really shows her acting abilities. Macaulay Culkin is perfect in this film. I loved him as the anti-Christian handicapped character. He was funny and yet he was never over the top. Patrick Fugit was also terrific as Pastor Skip’s son Patrick. He proves once again that he is a very strong actor and if you don’t believe me, be sure to check out Saved plus Almost Famous for evidence. Pastor Skip played by Martin Donovan was hilarious as the principal of the Christian high school. Pastor Skip wanted everyone to follow god’s way and teaches his students that following God’s set path is cool. The whole who’s down with G-O-D speech was truly hilarious and his whole innocent yet gangsta dialog about what god wants was a instant classic. And finally Eva Amurri’s character Cassandra sealed the films fun! Eva played the perfect outcast character, and I liked how she looked and truly stood out at this Christian school. It was hilarious watching her tease Hilary Faye because she was a by the book, Christian.
First time director Brian Dannelly should be proud of this film and finally I was able to tell a director my thoughts personally. I actually went up to the director after the film and shook his hand and told him how much I loved the film. He seemed very appreciative of all the comments he got from me and several other audience members. It seemed as though Brian Dannelly cared about what the audience thought about the film. I told him that he should be proud that he wrote and directed a terrific movie here. I told him that so many movies these days are crap and they have millions upon millions of dollars to use on the budget and the film ends up being total crap. Brian Dannelly made a great film that had a clever, smart, funny, thought provoking script and a terrific cast. I will be watching for more of him in the future. Brian also caught the emotions of the characters in the film and created this believable Christian god absorbed town where these characters lived.
The writing on this film was fabulous. With Brian Dannelly and Michael Urban both being first time screenwriters, I was amazed by how truly great and unique this film’s script was. The film had a clever story with very unique dialog. I was intrigued that the film’s script delivered both comedy and drama in a amusing but yet extremely smart way. The script leaves you happy in the end but asks questions, which make it very thought provoking to talk about afterwards. The film contained various hilarious scenes including one where Jena Malone’s character Mary starts to befriend Mandy Moore’s character Hilary Faye, and Hilary tries to perform an exorcist on Mary and then all of a sudden the exorcist theme begins and Hilary sprays Mary with holy water and tell her to come back from Satan. Truly hilarious! There are several other clever yet hilarious moments like that in the film.
So In conclusion I loved Saved and have nothing at all bad to say about it. The entire audience applauded the film when it ended. During the Q&A every comment said by an audience member was positive. This film turned out better than I ever expected it to be. Being able to see this film at its premiere allowed me to express my feelings even more. I learned from the director, producer, and the actors how long and how much time and effort was put into this film and how ironically this film almost didn’t happen at all. Saved provided its audience with a smart yet funny thought provoking story. The acting was terrific and all the trouble they went through to get this film released was amazing and in the end truly worth it in my eyes. I did not find this film to be anti anything although I can see this film stirring up some controversy when it is released unfortunately I doubt it will be seen by many since it’s opening in limited release on memorial day weekend in only 5 cities. I spoke to the director about this and I told him it sucked that it was only going to be released in limited release. He said MGM wouldn’t give it a wide release but he hopes it does well so that it can open wider. I hope so too. Because I think the film ultimately delivers both drama and comedy and talks about a serious issues including God and acceptance. I give Saved! a high rating of a 9/10. It is definitely my favorite film of the year thus far! Go see Saved when it’s released this Memorial Day weekend! I know I will be seeing again when it is released.