Knocked-up while trying to "save" her fey ice-skater boyfriend from "turning gay," blissfully naive and blindly devotional Mary (Jena Malone) becomes an object of scorn at her Christian high school--and is suddenly awash in dark-comedic doubts about everything she's been taught to believe. Narrated from Mary's point of view as she navigates a snake pit of high school gossip coupled with religious self-righteousness, Brian Dannelly's Saved! is chirpy, quirky, and incisively wry without turning its domineering antagonists into judgmental, one-dimensional cartoons--at least until a Bible-beating school queen bee (Mandy Moore) snaps (out of frustration with Mary's perceived slide into heathenism) and becomes a typical teen-movie villainess. This sitcom-y decline in creativity is disappointing since the cast members (including Macaulay Culkin) try to stay true to the film's smarter spirit while still mocking that seemingly impenetrable bubble of quaint naiveté that often surrounds Christian youth. Still, Saved! does remain funny from start to finish, and that's its saving grace. Recommended. [Note: DVD extras include two audio commentaries (one by co-writer/director Brian Dannelly, producer Sandy Stern, and co-writer Michael Urban; the other by costars Jena Malone and Mandy Moore), a four-minute “Heaven Help Us” behind-the-scenes featurette, 11 deleted/extended scenes, four segments of bloopers, six “Saved! Revelations” facetious segments, and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a solid indie film.] (R. Blackwelder)[Blu-ray/DVD Review—Aug. 23, 2016—Olive, 93 min., PG-13, DVD: $19.95, Blu-ray: $29.95—Making its latest appearance on DVD and debut on Blu-ray, 2004's Saved! features a decent transfer and a DTS 5.1 soundtrack. Extras carried over from the DVD release include two audio commentaries (one by co-writer/director Brian Dannelly, producer Sandy Stern, and co-writer Michael Urban; the other by costars Jena Malone and Mandy Moore), deleted/extended scenes (18 min.), a “Heaven Help Us” behind-the-scenes featurette (4 min.), “Revelations” spoof segments (3 min.), and bloopers (3 min.). Bottom line: this dark comedy makes a welcome debut on Blu-ray.]
Saved!
MGM, 92 min., PG-13, VHS: $39.95, DVD: $26.98, Oct. 5 Volume 19, Issue 5
Saved!
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