An enjoyable coming-of-age flick for the spiritually befuddled modern era, Saved! tells the tale of a repressively devout Christian High School and the efforts of its spiritually elite students to save the black sheep who don’t quite fit the mold. Heading the list of heathens is Mary, the innocent girl next door who begins to question Jesus’ plan when her gay boyfriend gets her pregnant. As Mary struggles to discover her identity apart from the prayer circle, those around her find themselves faced with similar challenges, attempting to balance their black and white beliefs with the vagaries of our gray existence.
While other films have certainly plumbed the murky depths of existentialist thought with more philosophical legerdemain, we must remember that, at its core, Saved! is a teenage story, written for young people struggling to define their place in the world. It is thus to be commended for crafting a genuinely relatable drama that dares to venture into the uncertain waters of teenage religious belief.
And even though it does call into question the more exuberant activities of the maniacally faithful, Saved! is not the wickedly irreverent comedy that some critics have made it out to be. Indeed, far from embarking on a mean-spirited attack on the teachings of Christianity, Saved! encourages us to embrace our differences, and strives to point out that all beliefs are valid, save those that lead us towards closed-mindedness and hate. If such a moral appears overly simplistic, perhaps that’s as it should be.
by Thomas Scalzo | Source: MGM DVD
11 Jan 2005 10:43 PM | Submit Comment