NY Times: An Irreverent Comedy Is Seeking Christians

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An Irreverent Comedy Is Seeking Christians

LOS ANGELES, May 5 — In a darkened screening room where movie-altering decisions are made, the newly minted Christian audience is under consideration by Hollywood experts.

MGM is holding one of a series of screenings of "Saved!," a small, irreverent comedy, set to open on May 28, about an evangelical Christian high school. But the movie is proving difficult to market. Though Hollywood is eager to capitalize on the Christian audience that emerged in huge numbers to see "The Passion of the Christ," movie executives are unsure about what kinds of movies will appeal to it. Does "Saved!" fit the bill?

In "Saved!," Mandy Moore and Macaulay Culkin (in a wheelchair) are siblings attending the school, a Midwestern institution where "Jesus loves you" is a mantra — and an order. A giant cutout of Jesus looms over the campus. Pastor Skip, played by Martin Donovan, is the spiritual leader of the school, handsome, hip and given to complimenting his students on being "phat."

Jena Malone plays a teenager who becomes pregnant while trying to cure her boyfriend of his homosexuality and save him from damnation. Her mother, a divorcée played by Mary-Louise Parker, is trying to be right with God but has an affair with Pastor Skip.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2004/05/06/movies/06CHRI.html?8hpib

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