‘Saved’ has a lot of soul

After Mel Gibson forced audiences to endure two hours of mind-numbing

violence in the name of strengthening their faith, it only seems

natural to want to laugh at the flaws of being overly pious. “Saved”

is a very funny movie that takes place at a private Christian high

school attended by wealthy suburbanites. It’s basically just another

formulaic teen comedy, but the unusual setting has drawn a bit of

controversy.

“Saved” opens with Hillary (Mandy Moore) painting a 20-foot Jesus

in running shoes, who welcomes students back to high school. Her

paraplegic, wheel chair-bound brother, Roland (McCaulay Culkin),

questions whether Jesus, a Middle Easterner, should be painted white?

Hillary looks at him in shock and says, of course Jesus is white!

It’s moments like this that have members of the extreme Christian

right saying this script was spawned by Satan himself, but it’s not

like those folks are renown for their sense of humor. The extreme

liberal left are also upset that the movie portrays its

fundamentalist characters with too much sympathy, and doesn’t do

enough to point out the hypocrisy of some fundamentalist teachings.

From my point of view, drawing the ire of both extreme viewpoints is

a good sign that a story is right on target and isn’t biased either

way.

This is a movie that makes fun of people who are so caught up in

themselves that they are either unaware of their own foibles or

afraid to acknowledge them. Anyone who claims that their beliefs make

them immune to blind stupidity deserves to be brought down to Earth

with the rest of us.

The protagonist in “Saved” is Mary (Jena Malone), a typical

teenage girl who’s totally confused by living in an imperfect world.

Things gets even more complicated for Mary when her lifelong

boyfriend tells her he thinks he’s gay. This is a big revelation for

any teenage girl to hear from her boyfriend, but it’s even more

overwhelming for a Christian.

On top of all of the normal self-doubt and frustration that anyone

would feel, Mary is terrified that the man she loves may be condemned

forever to Hell with the fiery pits and the pitchforks and all of

that. She needs a sign to tell her how far she should go to save his

soul. The decisions she makes, and the inevitable consequences of her

decisions, lead Mary down a road of self-discovery.

Mary’s friend, Hillary, is full of faith and devotion, but is also

caught up in the struggle to maintain her position as the queen of

Christian high school popularity. Complicating things for Hillary is

a mistaken belief that she’s achieved her status because of her

superior faith and devotion, and not because she’s a cut-throat

narcissist. As in any formulaic teen comedy, Hillary’s blind conceit

will be her downfall. What makes it so funny is how intensely Moore

plays Hillary and how Hillary seems genuinely shocked when things

don’t always go her way. Moore makes a hysterically funny villain.

Malone is probably the best young actress appearing in movies. You

may recognize her from “Cold Mountain” and “Donnie Darko.” She has a

knack for picking great independent scripts such as “The Dangerous

Lives of Alter Boys,” a terrific movie produced by Jodie Foster.

“Saved” was produced by an independent company owned by R.E.M. lead

singer, Michael Stipe.

Malone gets strong dramatic support from Culkin, who shows a lot

of screen charisma as he sheds the image of being the “Home Alone”

kid.

Another noteworthy performer is Eva Amurri, who plays Moore’s

nemesis. She’s a Jewish girl who’s been sent to this high school

because she’s been expelled from every other local high school. When

Moore chastises Amurri about smoking and warns her that secondhand

smoke kills, Amurri flicks her cigarette butt at her and retorts,

“I’m counting on it!”

This movie is a great night out if you just want a few laughs. The

only drawback is the formulaic story with obvious heroes and

villains, but overall the whole movie is so strong that it overcomes

this problem.

I don’t see this as a movie that makes fun of Christians. It’s a

movie that makes fun of trying to be things you’re not and believing

you’re something that you aren’t. The message of the movie,

tolerance, is a good one. But it’s kind of sad that the people who

really need to hear this message are being told to stay away from

this movie. It’s funny how some people say God loves everyone, and

then get angry when people they don’t like claim that God loves them.

* JIM ERWIN is a technical writer and computer trainer.

‘Prisoner’ breaks free of past

I admit, here and now, that I have devoured each book of the Harry

Potter series as soon as I got my hands on them. In fact, when the

fifth book in the series, “Harry Potter and Order of Phoenix,” came

out last year, my girlfriend and I bought separate copies because our

attempts to share the fourth book, “Goblet of Fire,” resulted in a

series of mysterious disappearances and outright thievery as we

competed to finish it uninterrupted.

The first two books were clever and engaging, but the third,

“Prisoner of Azkaban,” opened up Rowling’s fictional world into a

much larger venue. As the teen wizard heroes, Harry, Ron Weasley and

Hermione Granger grew older, the world around them grew more

perilous. Darker themes were explored, and you could almost taste the

impending danger that would unfold in the subsequent volumes.

“Prisoner of Azkaban” was the first book that felt, well ... adult.

Which is why I’m so relieved that the film version of “Azkaban”

was such a thrill to watch. The “Prisoner” in the title is none other

than the always brilliant (if slightly off-kilter) Gary Oldman as

Sirius Black, a recent escapee from the Wizard Prison of Azkaban, who

may or may not intend to harm young Harry, and whose past is

intricately woven into a betrayal that resulted in the death of

Harry’s parents.

Oldman shines in the role of a man nearly driven crazy from 12

long years in prison. He’s also an actor whose performances delve

under your skin and provoke a chill down your spine because you’re

not entirely convinced it’s all acting. Like John Malkovich, he’s

someone I think I’d be uncomfortable breathing the same air with in

real life.

The first two “Harry Potter” installments, “Sorcerer’s Stone” and

“Chamber of Secrets,” thrived at the box office but drew the ire of

critics because of director Chris Columbus’s lack of invention. And

deservedly so, he basically produced carbon copies of the books. This

may have pleased the youngest fans, but to most, the two films

meandered and lost steam as they headed toward their climaxes. Film

and books are two very different mediums, and what works in one

doesn’t necessary succeed with the other.

Exit Columbus, enter innovative director Alfonso Cuaron (“A Little

Princess,” “Great Expectations” and “Y Tu Mama Tambien”), who

creatively amounts to a breath of fresh air and renewed vigor. He

captures the inherent moodiness of the third book with relative ease.

He was also confident enough to allow the screenplay to live and

breath as a separate entity. This means sequences and back story have

been dropped or simplified in order to maintain a brisk,

action-packed pace. By making such bold choices, Cuaron and

screenwriter Steve Kloves have done a service to the novel by

remaining true to the tone and spirit rather than getting bogged down

by an overly literal adaptation.

The results are magical. Cuaron has re-imagined the Hogwarts

School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (if this means nothing to you, grab

the nearest 10-year-old, and, if they take pity on you, listen

carefully) with a more ominous, gothic look. He’s allowed the

characters of Harry, Ron and Hermione (Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint

and Emma Watson) to be recognizable teenagers with all the doom and

gloom that can entail.

In other words, Cuaron has really delivered on his promise. But

it’s not without a few small sacrifices. In wisely focusing on the

teenage trio, other beloved characters make nothing more than

truncated cameo appearances, such as Hagrid (Robbie Coltrane) and

Professor McGonagall (Maggie Smith). But I’m happy to report that the

deliciously malevolent Professor Snape (Alan Rickman) clocks in a

satisfying amount of screenplay. Emma Thompson is fantastic as

Professor Trelawny, the somewhat inept and harried Divination

teacher. Michael Gambon puts in admirable effort as a slightly more

hip Professor Dumbledore, but his take on the character doesn’t have

the sagacious weight the late Richard Harris brought to the role,

whose casting was one of the few masterstrokes of the earlier films.

Harris had the right blend of warmth and strictness -- he seemed to

spring Dumbledore fully-formed from the pages.

“The Prisoner of Azkaban” is also the most successfully creepy

entry in the franchise. The soul-sucking dementors,guards of Azkaban

prison, surround the Hogwarts school in search of the escaped Sirius

Black, and are every bit as capable of inducing a spine tingle and a

frayed nerve as Rowlings’s prose describe. It’s a rare treat for a

filmmaker to capture the exact image that took root in imagination.

And most importantly, Harry himself begins a touching

coming-of-age story that tugs on the heartstrings as “Azkaban”

thunders to a satisfying close.

More here than ever, Harry develops into a dimensional character

that’s scared he won’t measure up to his potential. Watching him try

is an often rewarding experience.

* ALLEN MacDONALD recently earned a master’s in screenwriting from

the American Film Institute in Los Angeles.