Dubby Bhagat

Like Gai Jatra is a pressure cooker valve to protest wrong doings in the country, so the arts are in the lead in the West when it comes to protesting social inequalities. In the 50’s in America at the height of the anticommunist movement, Hollywood launched a movie Spartacus about the uprising of slaves. Today with fundamentalism a burning hot topic, Hollywood has launched Saved!

Say’s critic Bret Fetzer, “Classic teen comedy mixes with cunning satire in Saved! Fervent Christian Mary believes God wants her to save her gay boyfriend by sleeping with him. But he gets sent to an anti-gay indoctrination camp while she ends up pregnant. Saved! respects faith but gleefully mocks the excesses and absurdities of contemporary organised religion, particularly its suburban, let’s-speak-the-language-of-the-kids manifestation. The actors, including Macaulay Culkin and Mary Louise Parker, play their parts with sincerity, which makes the fusion of humour and heart succeed. A delightful movie.” Mary’s friend turned tormentor is a deeply layered character called Hilary Faye played by Pop Icon Mandy Moore who says: “I play Hilary Faye who is sort of an antagonist in the film. She’s the seemingly perfect all-American blonde, leader of the high school sort of girl who seems to have everything going for her and she is a bit evil, and she uses her relationship with Jesus to manipulate and take advantage of those around her”.

Mary is played by Jena Malone who ends up questioning the faith and value systems she is brought up with. Also in the high school that the characters seem caught in, is a Jewish rebel called Cassandra played by Eva Amurri who is in love with the wicked Faye’s wheelchair bound brother Roland, played by Culkin in a brilliant bit of acting. Says Amurri: “I play the only Jewish girl at this Christian high school, and she’s is a very fiery character, she tests her boundaries a lot with people, and she in the end finds this companion in Mac’s character, and they kind of find this great love”. Directed by new comer Brian Dannelly a first time director who also wrote the script, the film is anti-excess without being anti-Christian. Says Dannelly:

“All the humour comes from honest moments, that’s really important to me, that it’s not about making fun of the movement, it’s about making fun of the things we do as human beings when we get carried away. It’s pretty grounded, the humour, I think”.

But the last word goes to British critic Tom Brook (who earlier said the Kingdom Of Heaven had leveled the playing ground between Muslims and Christians) who says: “In critiquing Saved! it would indeed be a sin to not mention the talents of its cast — Jena Malone, Mandy Moore and Macaulay Culkin, who all do an excellent job.” Few Hollywood movies would dare to satirise fundamentalism in America, so for this fact alone, the independently produced Saved! deserves a lot of credit. Saved! is in the mould of American high school comedy, an old formula but in this instance the story is definitely propelled by its performances. Nineteen-year-old Malone, a young actress who continues to amaze, really carries the film. Moore is the best she’s ever been in a movie, less vanilla and more biting as she toys with her real-life sunny all American image to give Faye a credible irritating twist. Having successfully broken away from his Home Alone persona, Culkin demonstrates once again that he’s making intelligent choices, which reflect his breadth of acting skills.