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I was always a little weary of watching "Saved!". On the one hand it seemed a little too religious - and that kinda freaked me out. And on the other hand, it seemed to make a little too much fun of religion - and that kind made me feel guilty. I'm not really a religious person, but I was just playing it safe.
It's the story of Mary (Jena Malone), a senior at an all-Christian high school. A couple of weeks before her final year begins, her boyfriend Dean reveals to her that he's gay. After bumping her head, Mary has a vision of Jesus, who tells her to "save" her boyfriend. So, in the interest of saving his damned soul, she offers up her virginity, hoping that somehow, by screwing this guy, it'll turn him back on the straight and narrow. Sure, sleeping with him is a sin (they're not married!) but she's doing it for Jesus, so it's okay. And, of course, Jesus would in turn grant her a virginal heart - thus restoring her physical and spiritual virginity. Of course, this doesn't work, Mary becomes pregnant and Dean is shipped off to wherever bad Christian kids go. So, high school starts and we're introduced to Mary's Christian fellowship. The most militant of her friends is Hilary Faye (Mandy Moore). She's one of those Jesus freaks you intentionally avoid because they're so zealous about their Jesus-ness. Hilary Faye eventually finds out that Mary screwed Dean and she sets out to save her - but ends up destroying herself.
So, what started out as a movie I was uneasy watching, ended up as a movie that I really kinda enjoyed. For one, I love high school movies, and altough I wouldn't really classify this one as a "teen" movie, it's still fun enough, with some really subversive humor and a decent message. It helped too that it justified a lot of what I felt about the God squad at my own high school. Basically, it's okay to be religious - just don't try and shove it down my throat. I don't need to be saved.
Special features include two commentaries, a promotional featurette, some deleted scenes, bloopers, and trailers. The first commentary features director/co-writer Brian Dannelly, producer Sandy Stern and co-writer Michael Urban. This commentary had its moments, but for the most part, it's just a congratulatory piece. Forgive the pun, but there was a lot of "praising" how great it was to work with everybody. Still, if you enjoyed the movie, the commentary really isn't so bad. The second commentary features stars Jena Malone and Mandy Moore. This commentary is a bit more fun, as we get to learn about some of the film's behind-the-scenes antics, although at times. For fans of either of these two stars, this one is worth your time.
Next, we get a brief promotional featurette titled "Heaven Help Us" which features some backstage footage and interviews with the cast and crew. We also get a series (11 in total) of deleted and extended scenes, without commentary. There's enough material here to make it worthwhile, but at the same time, it's understandable why most were cut. We also get "Saved Revelations" which features more deleted material - but more along the lines of revealing what's really going on in certain scenes. Finally we get some bloopers from four different scenes in the movie, and trailers for this and other MGM releases.
All in all, the features are a lot of fun - and complement the film nicely.
So if you can get past any religious worries you might have about this movie, and realize that the filmmakers are actually poking fun at those religious types, you can have a lot of fun with this one.
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