BY LOIS WADSWORTH
Jesus in high school
SAVED!:
Directed by Brian Dannelly. Written by
Dannelly and Michael Urban. Produced by Sandy
Stern, Michael Stipe, William Vince, Michael Ohoven.
Cinematography, Bobby Bukowski. Editor, Pamela
martin. Production design, Tony Devenyi. Music,
Christophe Beck. Costume, Wendy Chuck. Starring
Jena Malone, Mandy Moore, Macaulay Culkin and Eva
Amurri, with Patrick Fugit, Heather Matarazzo, Chad
Faust, Martin Donovan and Mary-Louise Parker. MGM,
United Artists, 2004. PG-13. 92 minutes.
I
’d really hoped for something with a
stronger satiric bite, but Brian
Dannelly’s teen comedy set at a subur-
ban, private, Christian high-school is sur-
prisingly toothless. The choice to pull his
punches is disingenuous, because
Cassandra (Eva Amurri), a potty-mouthed,
rebellious, non-Christian, has a lot more to
say than Dannelly’s careful scripting
allows. We must assume that the filmmaker
lets Cassandra — such an appropriate name
if you know your Greek characters — say
just exactly as much as he wants said and
no more. Too bad. As a Jewish outsider, this
character surely has an interesting take on
the whole Christian conformist movement.
Actually, there’s very little here that you
haven’t seen in the other teen comedies of
the season, such as Mean Girls. The unique
feature is the Baptist, praise Jesus angle,
and if you don’t play in that court, the con-
stant Christian message becomes annoying
very quickly. I stayed for the whole movie,
OPENING OR RETURNING:
Around the World in 80 Days:
Jackie Chan stars in this remake that
follows an eccentric London inven-
tor, Phineas Fogg (Steve Coogan)
who makes a very public bet then
has to come through. Also stars Jim
Broadbent, Cecile De France, Arnold
Schwarzenegger, Kathy Bates, Rob
Schneider. PG. Cinemark. Cinema
World.
Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story:
Can social rejects save their small
local gym from gentrification? Only
director Rawson Thurber and his
stars Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn,
Christine Taylor and Rip Torn know
for sure. PG-13. Cinema World.
Cinemark.
Farmingville: Documentary into
shocking hate-based attempted mur-
ders of two Mexican day laborers in
suburban Long Island. Special Jury
Award at Sundance. Directed by
Catherine Tambini and Carlos Sandoval.
“POV” at 10 pm on 6/22 on OPB.
Hellboy: Based on Mike Mignola’s
Dark Horse Comics series, this
supernatural action adventure stars
Ron Perlman, John Hut, Selma Blain
and Doug Jones and is directed by
Guillermo del Toro. Highly entertain-
ing, sweet film. See it. Movies 12. PG-
13. Online archives.
Kill Bill Vol. 1: Quentin Tarantino’s
first of two films was called the most
violent film ever made in Hollywood.
Stars Uma Thurman as the Bride, a
woman with a mission: Kill Bill (David
Carradine), her former boss and
lover who betrayed her and mur-
dered her family. With Lucy Liu,
Daryl Hannah, LaTanya Richardson,
Vivica A. Fox, Michael Madsen and
Samuel L. Jackson. R. Latenite Bijou.
Mad Monkey Kung Fu: Kung Fu
master Chen takes on the gangsters
who crippled him after they slaugh-
ter his beloved pet money and sell
his sister into prostitution. Director,
choreographer, and leading man Lau
Kar-leung, also the leading master of
the genre, is at the peek of his cre-
ative prowess here. NR. Blurb cour-
tesy of Latenite Bijou..
Moments: Short Israeli film series.
At 7 pm on 6/19 in Washington
Community Center.
New York Minute: Action comedy
stars Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley
but long before the end I quit hoping for a
real breakthrough in the narrative.
Mary (Jena Malone) lives with her lone-
ly, attractive mother, Lillian (Mary-Louise
Parker), who may be sleeping with Pastor
Skip (Martin Donovan), the principal of
Eagle Christian Academy. (Their relation-
ship is strictly off-screen, except for one
kiss. Wow!) Mary has always loved the
Lord, so when her boyfriend, Dean (Chad
Faust), comes back from summer vacation
and tells her he’s gay, she believes it is her
duty to save him by seducing him.
Moreover, she persuades herself that Jesus
has told her to do it. Oops.
Mary’s best friend Hillary Faye (Mandy
Moore) abandons her shortly after Dean is
yanked out of school and sent off in dis-
grace. But Hillary’s own brother, Roland
(Macaulay Culkin), and his newfound
friend Cassandra (Amurri) help Mary pick
up the pieces of her life and go on. They
discover her secret — she’s pregnant —
when they accidentally see her catching a
bus outside Planned Parenthood.
Meanwhile, all the other plot twists pro-
ceed as expected, with one more element
added for spice: Patrick (Patrick Fugit),
Pastor Skip’s son, who likes Mary but is
wanted by Hillary Faye. It’s an opportunity
for Fugit to step out of the shadows cast by
his brilliant turn as the naive, William, in
Cameron Crowe’s 2000 hit, Almost Famous.
The good thing about this large-cast film
is that the primary characters don’t sink into
predictable, generic teens. Each keeps some
Olsen as sisters on the loose in
Manhattan. With Eugene Levy as a
loony truant officer. PG. Movies 12.
Terminal: Steven Spielberg directs
Tom Hanks as a tourist who has to live
at Kennedy airport because his home-
land disappeared in a civil war, so his
passport is no good. Then he falls in
love with Catherine Zeta-Jones. PG-
13. Cinemark. Cinema World.
Films open the Friday following
EW publication date unless other-
wise noted. See archived reviews
at www.eugeneweekly.com
CONTINUING:
Chronicles of Riddick, The: Riddick
(Vin Diesel) ends up on a multicul-
tural planet invaded by a despot
planning to subjugate everyone with
his non-human warriors, the
Necromongers. (Named for a bad
rock band?) Also stars Thandie
Newton, Alexa Davalos, Colm Feore,
Linus Roache and Judi Dench. PG-13.
Cinema World. Cinemark.
Cold
Mountain:
Anthony
Minghella’s adaptation of Charles
Frazier’s Civil War best-seller stars
Jude Law as a wounded Southern
soldier who walks 1000 miles to get
home. Nicole Kidman is his pre-war
sweetheart, and Renee Zellweger
teaches her to farm and survive.
Very highest recommendations.
Academy Award to Rene Zellwegger.
Nominations: Jude Law, actor; cine-
matography; original score; two orig-
inal songs; film editing. R. Movies 12.
Online archives.
Day After Tomorrow, The: Directed
by Roland Emmerich, starring
Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal,
Emmy Rossum, Sela Ward. A clima-
tologist (Quaid) tries to figure out a
way to save the world from abrupt
global warming. He must get to his
son (Gyllenhaal) in New York, which
is being taken over by a new ice age.
PG-13. Cinemark.
Ella Enchanted: Anne Hathaway is a
perfectly obedient girl. She does
what she’s told, literally. Based on
Newberry-winning novel. PG. Movies
12.
Fifty First Dates: Drew Barrymore
and Adam Sandler in a romance with
a catch: she has no short-term mem-
ory recall, so she forgets him every
night. Also stars Rob Schneider, Sean
Astin and Dan Aykroyd. Directed by
Peter Segal. PG-13. Movies 12. Online
archives.
Garfield, The Movie: The poster
promises “frisky business” as
Garfield, the smarty pants kitty,
makes his film debut. PG. Cinemark.
Cinema World.
Harry Potter & the Prisoner of
Azkaban: Alfonso Cuarón directs
the third film based on the series by
J.K. Rowling. Harry (Daniel Radcliffe)
and his friends Ron (Rupert Grint)
and Hermione (Emma Watson), now
teenagers, return to Hogwarts,
where they face their darkest fears.
Sirius Black (Gary Oldham) poses a
great threat to Harry. The three
friends must also contend with the
Dementors, who are sent to protect
them from Black. PG. Cinemark.
Cinema World.
Hidalgo: Based on autobiography of
distance rider Frank T. Hopkins,
played by Viggo Mortensen, this epic
action-adventure takes place during
a 3,000 mile survival race across the
Arabian Desert in 1890. PG-13.
Movies 12.
Jersey Girl: Written and directed by
Kevin Smith, film’s about a music
publicist (Ben Affleck) trying to bal-
ance work and fatherhood as a sin-
gle parent. Also stars Jennifer
Lopes, George Carlin, Liv Tyler,
Jason Biggs. Raquel Castro is his
independent
daughter.
PG-13.
Movies12.
Ladykillers, The: Based on the 1955
British comedy starring Peter Sellers
and Alec Guiness, Ethan and Joel
Coen’s adaptation stars Tom Hanks
and Marlon Wayons. When these
bank robbers move into “no hip-hop”
house of a Southern church-going
woman, anything goes. R. Movies 12.
Man on Fire: Denzel Washington as
a security guard for a child who is
kidnapped on his watch. He will have
revenge. R. Movies 12.
Mean Girls: Lindsay Lohan plays a
high-school student raised by zoolo-
gist parents in the African bush, who
falls for a popular girl’s ex-boyfriend.
PG-13. Cinemark. Online archives.
Prince and Me, The: Stars Julia
Stiles, Luke Mably. She’s a pre-med
student. He’s the Crown Prince of
Denmark. Also stars James Fox and
Miranda Richardson. PG. Movies 12.
distinguishing small (or large) idiosyncratic
trait. Hillary is the most stereotypical, but
Moore enthusiastically embraces her char-
acter’s Jesus-besotted behavior and throws
herself into the saving game with gusto.
The most surprising character turn is
Roland’s, who changes deeply over the
course of the film. An understated, solid
performance by Culkin makes Roland’s
metamorphosis from Hillary Faye’s alter-
abled little brother to Cassandra’s boyfriend
believable. This role lets Culkin show us
what he can do as a grownup.
Breaking no new ground, Saved! suffers
from muddled direction but is itself saved
by several excellent performances. Eagle
Christian Academy may or may not actual-
ly exist, but it’s easy enough to imagine that
such schools are encouraged by the current
political agenda favoring faith-based insti-
tutions. Ultimately, the film shows how
easy it is to program young people to
believe in sentiments they don’t have the
experience to challenge. And that’s scary.
Saved! is now playing at Cinemark.
Recommended for its attempt to explore
born-again high school culture, the film
gets a B- in my book.
ew
Roland (Macaulay Culkin), Cassandra (Eva Amurri) and Mary (Jena Malone) bond as the school outsiders.
Raising Helen: Directed by Garry
Marshall, starring Kate Hudson,
John Corbett, Joan Cusack. After
her sister and brother-in-law die in a
car accident, a young woman
(Hudson) becomes the guardian of
their
three
children.
PG-13.
Cinemark. Online archives.
Saved: Mandy Moore and Jena
Malone play former high school
friends at a Baptist high school who
learn hard lessons about friendship
when one of them becomes preg-
nant. PG-13. Cinemark. See review
this issue.
Secret Window: Psychotic (John
Turturro) stalks writer (Johnny
Depp), accusing him of stealing the
ending to his story. David Koepp
directs, story by Stephen King. Also
stars Maria Bello, Timothy Hutton,
Charles S. Dutton. PG-13. Movies 12.
Online archives.
Shrek 2: Mike Myers returns as
Shrek, Cameron Diaz is his new wife,
Princess Fiona, and Eddie Murphy’s
his sidekick, Donkey. Now the newly-
weds face Queen Lillian (Julie
Andrews) and King Harold (John
Cleese). Fairy godmother (Jennifer
Saunders), Prince Charming (Rupert
Everett) and the ferocious Puss in
Boots (Antonio Banderas). So-so
sequel. Cinemark. Cinema World.
Online archives.
Starsky & Hutch: Ben Stiller is
uptight Starsky, while Owen Wilson is
laid back Ken “Hutch” Hutchinson in
this remake of TV’s undercover
crime-fighters. With Vince Vaughn,
Snoop Dogg, Juliette Lewis. PG-13.
Movies 12.
Stepford Wives, The: Frank Oz
directs Nicole Kidman, Matthew
Broderick, Bette Midler, Christopher
Walken, Faith Hill and Glenn Close in
this updated comedy-thriller about a
perfect, 1950s-era community in
Stepford,
Connecticut.
PG-13.
Cinema World. Cinemark. See
review this issue.
Super Size Me: Morgan Spurlock’s
documentary features snappy
graphics, talking heads and the slow
decline of Spurlock’s health as he
eats only at McDonalds for three
meals a day, 30 days. Highly recom-
mended. NR. Bijou. Online archives.
Van Helsing: Monster killer Van
Helsing (Hugh Jackman) teams up
with Kate Beckinsale in Transylvania
to bring down Count Dracula
(Richard Roxburgh). PG-13. Movies 12.
What the Bleep Do We Know?
Through interviews with cutting-edge
scientists and spiritual teachers, a
brand new way of thinking about con-
sciousness, intentionality and the abil-
ity to make a difference in the world
emerges. But it begins with Amanda
(Marlee Matlin). Highly recommended.
NR. Bijou. Online archives.
Whole Ten Yards, The: Bruce Willis,
Matthew Perry, Amanda Peet and
Natsha Henstridge star in this come-
dy sequel. Willis is a retired hitman
living the life of a happy homemaker
until Mafioso mayhem ensues. PG-13.
Movies 12.
Bijou Art Cinemas (686-2458)
Cinema World 8 (342-6536)
Cinemark 17 (746-5202)c
Movies 12 (741-1231)
NEW RELEASES ON VIDEO
Releases subject to change. Available the Tuesday following date of EW publication, sometimes sooner. See
archived movie reviews at www.eugeneweekly.com
Bad Santa: Directed by Terry Zwigoff. The story of two con men who go on a road trip to malls dressed as
Santa and his elf who rob the malls after hours. An 8-year-old teaches them the true meaning of Christmas.
Right! Stars Billy Bob Thornton, Bernie Mac, Lauren Graham, John Ritter. R.
The Line King: The Al Hirschfeld Story: Award-winning documentary about caricaturist and artist Al
Hirschfield. Includes essay by NYTimes Michael Kimmelman. NR.
Lower Depths, The: Unique 2-disc set includes two film versions of Maxim Gorky’s play. Jean Renoir made his
version in 1936, with Jean Gabin, and Akira Kurosawa directed his in 1957, with Toshiro Mifune. Both versions
include commentary.
Mama Roma (1962, Italy): One of director Pier Paolo Pasolini’s great films. Stars Anna Magnani. DVD
includes interviews with Bernardo Bertolucci, cinematographer Tonino Delli Colli and Pasolini biographer Enzo
Siciliano, as well as an hour-long documentary about Pasolini and a 35-minute film by Pasolini about a director
who sets out to make a film about the Passion of Jesus.
Secret Window: Psychotic (John Turturro) stalks writer (Johnny Depp), accusing him of stealing the ending to
his story. David Koepp directs, story by Stephen King. Also stars Maria Bello, timothy Hutton, Charles S. Dutton.
PG-13. Movies 12. Online archives.
Woman Is a Woman, A (1961, France): One of director Jean-Luc Godard’s most famous films stars Anna
Karina and Jean- Paul Belmondo. Extras include an early short film by Godard and excerpts from a French tele-
vision interview with Karina and others.
Next Week: Barbershop 2, Blazing Saddles, Cold Mountain, Dracula: Dead and Loving It, The English
Patient, The Perfect Score and Ragtime.
JUNE 17, 2004 25
MGM. UNITED ARTISTS, 2004.
Eagles All