Saved

I bought the DVD and then saw SAVED with Mandy Moore.
SEE   

 The movie was too simplistic; I still enjoyed it, though. I bought the movie in the 1st place because I consider myself pretty religious but have a strong antipathy towards the "Holier than Thou" types like Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson. Plus, those 2 are big time Republicans and that makes them less likable as well (now remember, most of my family is Republican but I get along fine with them). I also have dealt with Holier than Thou types on a personal level. Someone who I am close to on a personal level is older than me, and I wish I was closer to her, but when ever she relates to me it seems to be on a preachy, didactic way. She's a good person but we'd be a lot more close if she would listen more and preach less. My 1st college roommate was a Fundamentalist; that had its good and bad moments as well. About the movie, here's my likes and dislikes: Like: - good, plausible plot which is saying a lot these days. Not a great plot but that's discussed in the 1st "Dislike" -likable characters -the whole premise of young people out there that think they know it all but really don't and are basically the tools of a group bigger than them is something that really happens in the US and other places -good lesson on what happens if you use your friends as Mandy Moore's character does Dislike -Mandy Moore's character is too 2-dimensional, too black & white -would have been more interesting to see the plot develop her parents' characters more. How was she shaped/socialized? Not sure how valid this concern is as it's only 90some minutes long; not a documentary -doesn't really answer the following question (maybe not enough time to do so, again it wasn't a documentary): if you follow God and you care about others, what should you do when you see friends "taking the wrong path" in life? To Mandy Moore's character, the solution is obvious, but the answer really isn't. At work, I became friends with someone who wasn't a Fundamentalist, wasn't an Evangelical, basically came up with her "own religion". She was extremely knowledgeable about the Bible and that, I think, is pretty admirable. Yet, people at work held her in suspicion because she criticized the way others acted. She explained it to me like this, "If you see someone walk in quicksand, do you reason with them or do you try to stop them right then and there?" Good question. But maybe the wrong analogy. The point is that falling away from God's path isn't as quick as quicksand. So the actions to take may be better if there less intrusive. Mandy Moore's character generates too much heat and not enough light. She'd be better off asking questions than trying to give all the answers. I think one of the best ways to persuade people is by asking them the "right questions". So in the end, Saved is a movie I'd recommend for others interested in the same topic.