Saved!

Not even the star power of Mandy Moore playing the "villain" could make people go and see this fantastic film, which manages to pull off an entire script based around a school's love for Jesus. In fact, this film is so heavy on bible thumping that there aren't many scenes without reference to the Lord and what he would do in situations involving homosexuality and teen pregnancy. The fact that Saved! manages to deliver an often hilarious and charming script with such a heavy religious theme is worth applause alone, but it helps when you have amazing actors such as Jena Malone, Patrick Fugit and Moore, who pulls off an incredible performance as Hilary Faye, the most devoted Christian attending American Eagle High. Hopefully Moore will soon ditch her crap music career and focus full-time on strengthening her talent as a leading actress. The DVD is a little half-assed for such a strong film, with the extras ranging from some incredibly dull deleted and extended scenes and a "behind the scenes" featurette, which is over in mere minutes and is basically an extended commercial for the movie. The "revelations" portion is somewhat interesting, giving you a very short glimpse at things you may have missed during the viewing, though you do get to hear Mandy Moore say "blowjob" and "hot pussy." The commentary track with Malone and Moore is quite sweet and the two tend to compliment each other and their co-stars quite often, but you can't help but hang on their every word and the two succeed in dropping many tidbits, commenting on the scenes at hand rather than drifting off into some off-topic ramble. An excellent film with a mediocre DVD release, Saved! could become a cult classic, and these kind of films always deserve a proper reissue. Plus: commentary with director Dannelly, producer Sandy Stern and co-writer Michael Urban. (MGM)