Saved! (Brian Dannelly, director - starring: Jenna Malone, Mandy Moore, Macaulay Culkin, Mary Louise Parker, Patrick Fugit and Heather Matarazzo)

Director Brian Dannelly's highschool satire addresses the difficulties of life in an overreaching and unforgiving religious community. Starring Jenna Malone and Mandy Moore, the film centers around a fervently Christian highschool divided by teen pregnancy, homosexuality and infidelity among other issues. As scripted, controversy surrounded the film's release (certain Christian spokesmen called it evil) and with Macaulay Culkin, Mary Louise Parker and co-producer Michael Stipe to round out a hip cast and crew, Saved! was set to be an indie hit of sorts.

On screen, however, the film falls short of any hype from any camp. Clumsy relationships and only moderately amusing sexual and religious setups overwhelm its stated tack, and what ultimately emerges as social criticism is apologetic and unassured, leaving the film to waddle somewhere between mainstream teen fare and something more sophisticated. Saved! poses vital questions, but viewers will have to explore them on their own. Much to its credit the second film in Culkin's return to screen shows the former child star truly at home as a righteously dark adolescent, a character which would suit him well in a better context. And Jenna Malone does her pouty best since Donnie Darko. But both characters are one dimensional and highlight underlying flaws which even the most cred-wielding personnel can't rescue.

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