Saved!

This movie was fantastic. For those who have ever attended a Christian school, this hits all of the daily ironies that made those four years interesting. If you never have been in a Christian school, it adds a unique portrayal of the rigid nature of religion while confronting current controversial issues. I saw for the first time in the theater and could not stop laughing, so much so I had to buy it the minute it came out. One of my absolute favorite things about this movie was seeing the actors and actresses play roles contrary to their usual choices. Mandy Moore is superb and truly understands the role of Hillary Faye. I love this movie and recommend to anyone that can handle new forms of humor.

I consider myself faithful, decent, and relatively traditional when it comes to faith and such issues, but this movie spoke to me because I had one little group of friends who were always downright judgmental and frequently made me feel like I wasn't Christian enough for them. Boy did they hate this movie too. I found nothing about this movie to be anti-Christian whatsoever, but rather a call to sort of calm down the fanaticism and be more accepting of others. I thought this movie was rather brilliant, thoughtful, and hilarious.

Jena Malone has a sweet plainness and a natural, unforced charm playing bright senior at "a really good Christian school" who's part of an elite clique until a series of confounding personal events causes her to question her faith--and reexamine her circle of friends. Director/co-screenwriter Brian Dannelly doesn't have the ear for transcribing teenagers' speech or behavior, though he does a little bit better by the adults, and Mary Louise Parker (as Malone's mother) ends up with the film's best lines and strongest scenes. In sending up the religious teen scene, Dannelly falls back too easily on familiarity or corny obviousness, yet he also wants to be sympathetic towards his characters, a symptom which usually brings out the worst in any screenwriter. The finale, at the senior prom, is full of platitudes and the inevitable pleading for tolerance, all of which do not play. This is in context, and that's fine, but what happened to the humor? ** from ****

Before I saw this movie everyone said it was making fun of Christians. I didn't see why this was so bad, there have been many movies making fun of Jewish and Indian people and no one said a word, so I watched the movie. What I saw was not offensive to Christians at all! It was a touching story about taking religion too seriously and I don't think it was specifically aimed at Christians. This movie is one of the best ever made! It was hilarious, but it had a very good message. I loved Mandy Moore as the "perfect" Christian girl! The rest of the actors and actresses were excellent too. See this movie if you are in the mood for something lighthearted or if you like movies with good messages. I think this is a movie that everyone should see, no matter what religion you are.