Saved!

Review by Clint Morris

Mandy Moore could be advertising dog food in a 30 second TV spot and we'd still be glued to the screen.

The girl has it. Not just looks, but talent. Like a latter-day Audrey Hepburn, or more pragmatically, Olivia Newton-John, she's a twice-talented pop moppet that's proved she's just as gifted on the concert stage as she is on a film set.

Saved! is further verification that she'll be staying on film screens for a while longer.

As witty as it is well performed, and as novel as it is daring, Saved! casts the renowned good-girl of pop (Brittney Spears is seemingly such a bad-girl of pop that it garners Moore an image that sparkles with virtuousness and purity) as prudish Hilary Faye, a born leader who confidently runs the local Christian school's social system.

When supposed good-friend and fellow classmate, Mary (Jena Malone, another excellent young actress) finds herself pregnant, Hilary is the first to beg God's forgiveness for her friends dastardly deed.

But that doesn't mean Hilary's not going to discard Mary like a week-old newspaper, and suddenly the hapless student of God is labelled 'outsider' in a school full of seemingly matching-merit students.

Mary's not the only one in the school vicinity that is quietly rocking the cross though. There's Cassandra, a cynical Jewish transfer student, who is merely at the Christian school because she can't get in anywhere else and takes pride in smashing her classmates' efforts to save her soul.

And predominantly, Hilary's brother Roland (comeback-kid Macaulay Culkin), is secretly hiding the fact that he couldn't give a hoot about religion and as a consequence finds more of a friend in Cassandra than he has any of the others.

Without taking the Mickey out of faith to such extremes that it would be odious to believers, Saved! manages to provide spot-on satire whilst ousting what everyone should, but probably won't admit to knowing to know, that no one is perfect: some do fall pregnant and become single mothers, some do like a swig of alcohol or a puff of a cigarette from time to time and some do - as sinful as it may be - consort with the neighbours wife.

Without finger pointing, Saved! states that it isn't always those that lie outside the religious circle that embark in such plight.

In terms of entertainment, Saved! is going to tickle everyone's fancy - it is a little slow in spots and doesn't have the knock-out ending many might be expecting or hope for, but as it stands it's a religiously amusing outing with a couple of stellar turns.

God Bless Mandy Moore and her fantastic set of acting chops.

3 out of 5

Saved!
Australian release: Thursday October 28th
Cast: Mandy Moore, Macaulay Culkin, Jena Malone, Patrick Fugit, Eva Amurri, Chad Faust, Mary Louise Parker, Martin Donovan, Heather Matarazzo.
Director: Brian Dannelly.
Website: Click here.

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