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# Movie goers not saved from another teen flick
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/movie-goers-not-saved-from-another-teen-flick/
- Published: 2004-05-28T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T04:26:23.000Z
- Author: Dan Dunn
- Tags: Education, Santa Monica, #archive-import

In “Saved!” an uneven high school comedy from tyro writer-director Brian Dannelly, the Mean Girls and Teenage Drama Queens have found Jesus. This cheeky indictment of religious fundamentalism is at times engaging, but suffers from an almost fanatical aversion to subtlety. In taking on the “villains” — in this case, zealots at an exclusive Christian prep school — Dannelly and co-writer Michael Urban consistently go for the knockout blow when a jab would have been more effective, leaving the impression that the filmmakers are as narrow of ken and self-righteous as the Bible-thumpers they so lustily vilify. Nonetheless, as polemics go, this one is pretty damn (or damned, maybe?) funny, and may even inspire teens to engage in some healthy theological debate.

When good girl Mary (the talented Jena Malone) discovers her boyfriend is gay, she attempts to cure him of his terrible affliction by sleeping with him, only to wind up pregnant and on the outs with the “in” crowd. Pop princess Mandy Moore delivers an over-the-top, yet curiously appealing performance as Hilary Faye, the leader of American Eagle Christian High’s god squad — a queen bee-atch who uses faith primarily as a means of controlling her dominion. Shunned by Hilary Faye and her minions, Mary takes up with the outcasts: Chain-smoking ribald rebel, Cassandra (Eva Amurri) and Hilary Faye’s cooler-than-school wheelchair-bound brother, Roland (Macaulay Culkin). Amurri shows off her noble pedigree (she’s Susan Sarandon’s kid) in a star-making turn, and Culkin resurrects his career with his best role since “Home Alone.” Patrick Fugit (“Almost Famous”), on the other hand, fails to register as the school’s skate-punk heartthrob. Martin Donovan and Mary-Louise Parker also star. (Rated PG-13 for strong thematic issues involving teens - sexual content, pregnancy, smoking and language. Running time: 92 minutes.)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 28, 2004.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/052804.pdf?ref=smdp.com)