Brian Dannelly's debut feature SAVED! deftly blends indie-film edginess with a mainstream allure. Set in a Christian high school, the teen comedy follows a group of students who are all at different places in their lives. When Mary (Jena Malone) sacrifices her virginity in an attempt to heterosexualize her gay boyfriend, she is stunned to discover that she's become pregnant. With the help of wheelchair-bound Roland (Macaulay Culkin) and the school's only Jewish student, Cassandra (Eva Amurri), Mary must try to hide her pregnancy. But when her rival, the ultra-uptight Hilary Faye (Mandy Moore), finds out, all hell breaks loose. The film culminates on prom night, when a series of revelations put things in their proper perspective.

Dannelly and co-writer Michael Urban have produced a script that is a breezy, hilarious ride through the tricky waters of adolescence, and their all-star cast jumps into their roles with glee (most notably Moore and the scene-stealing Amurri). Rather than merely making jabs at the Christian right movement, however, the film preaches a universal message of tolerance and acceptance, giving audiences something deeper to chew on. The result is a surprisingly poignant film that positions Dannelly as a director to watch in the years to come.

This film screened at SXSW 2004 in Austin Texas.
IN THEATRES: MAY 28, 2004 (LIMITED)

DVD Features:

Region (unknown)
Keep Case
Full Frame - 1.33
Additional Release Material:
Original Theatrical Trailer
Commentaries: 1. Mandy Moore and Jena Malone
2. Brian Dannelly
3. Sandy Stern
4. Michael Urban
Featurettes
Deleted Scenes
Extented Scenes
Never-Before-Scene Bloopers
Outtakes
Easter Egg
Saved Revelations

Jena Malone: Actress
Mandy Moore: American Singer and Actress
Macaulay Culkin: American Actor
Heather Matarazzo: Actress
Eva Amurri: Actor, THE BANGER SISTERS (2002)
Mary-Louise Parker: Actress
Martin Donovan: American Actor, TRUST/THE OPPOSITE OF SEX/ INSOMNIA
Patrick Fugit: ALMOST FAMOUS

Brian Dannelly: Director, SAVED! (2004)

Michael Stipe: Musician, R.E.M.
Sandy Stern: 
Michael Ohoven: Producer, EVELYN (2002)
William Vince: Producer

Michael Urban: Screenwriter, SAVED! (2004)
Brian Dannelly: Director, SAVED! (2004)

Christophe Beck: 

"Mandy Moore has fun...and Macauley Culkin, Patrick Fugit and Eva Amurri bring considerable charm to their portrayals of a band of outsiders."
"SAVED! is a blazing send-off for first-timed director Brian Dannelly...whose laugh-laced screenplay is filled with complex characters that you can't laugh off."
"[The film] skewers hypocrisy and absolutism..."
"It pokes satirical fun at the religious sentiment currently sweeping though the popular culture while at the same time partaking of some of the energy and idealism that the Christian youth movement has brought to the entertainment industry."
"[N]ot only is SAVED! subversively funny, it is unexpectedly sweet."
"Dannelly has a nice sense of detail and keeps his characters cleverly in play against one another. The young actors in particular do a bang-up job..."
"There's some wicked satire in this debut..."