Saved! (2004)

Director: Brian Dannelly
Writer: Brian Dannelly, Michael Urban
Cast: Jena Malone, Mandy Moore, Macaulay Culkin, Mary-Louise Parker, Martin Donovan, Patrick Fugit, Eva Amurri, Heather Matarazzo
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Teen

Saved! is another of those satire movies I seem to struggle to get the better of, but once again my impression goes up after second viewing. There's no secret I've got a little more than half an eye open for anything Mandy Moore does, and she was the main reason I checked it out the first time around. The leading character is however played by Jena Malone, another actress often noticed despite playing smaller parts in productions.

We're taken into the world of a Christian High School, with all its do-good'ers, know-betters and hypocrites. It's not exactly a wonderful world, especially when you managed to get knocked up trying to deprogram your gay boyfriend in the name of Jesus Christ. Malone does a great job portraying our pre-Juno pregnant teen protagonist of the decade, but she's got really good support here. Moore, Culkin, Amurri, Parker and Donovan does also do memorable performances elevating this piece well above the usual teen-movies.

I might add I'm not a Christian, which probably makes it easy to laugh of some of the hypocrisy I've also shaken my head in disbelief about prior to this movie, but I can't imagine anybody taking this as a blasphemous movie.

Fitting in at high school is never easy. Fitting in at this high school holds more than its fair share of obstacles. I truly enjoyed my revisit, and wouldn't be surprised if I'm back for another reunion sometime in the future.