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Bookmark this pageSaved! (2004)
Director: Brian Dannelly
Movie review
From Time Out London
Never mind the cheerleaders – the evangelical Christians rule the roost in this school. Top of the rung is fanatical Hilary Faye (Mandy Moore), whose patronage of Mary (Jena Malone) wanes when Mary’s good Christian boyfriend is forced out of the closet and into rehab. Gradually, events force Mary to question the extremism of the popular crowd and befriend cynical, Jewish Cassandra (Eva Amurri) and wheelchair-using atheist Roland (Macaulay Culkin). The film’s comical attack on spiritual hypocrisy is reminiscent of both ‘Donnie Darko’ and gay-rehab comedy ‘But I’m A Cheerleader’, and it’s easily as funny as the secular ‘Mean Girls’. Early scenes in which the schoolgirl imagines Jesus has told her to ‘cure’ her boyfriend by sleeping with him are no less hilarious for their messages about the dangers of a fundamental education. It’s a shame the closing moral about a more pragmatic, inclusive approach to spirituality is conveyed with such a heavy hand.Author: AS
Time Out London Issue 1784: October 27-November 03, 2004
Cast & crew
Director: Brian Dannelly
Producer: Sandy Stern, Michael Stipe, Michael Ohoven, William Vince
Cast: Jena Malone, Mandy Moore, Macaulay Culkin, Patrick Fugit, Heather Matarazzo full cast
Rated: 12A
Duration: 92 mins
UK Release: Oct 29 2004
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