Saved – ***

The perfectly perky one returns, and my love-fest continues.

Why oh why isn’t Mandy Moore America’s *official* sweetheart? I watched Saved! the other day on dvd, and it’s astonishing that she’s not carrying an official title. She’s not the only good actor in the movie, but plays a great character, and does it really well.

The movie is about some teens in a Christian school but they’re normal kids -they like sex. And I like teens who like sex, ergo 3 stars! Unfortunately it’s not as raunchy as you may hope.

Without giving too much away, the flick’s about indie-star Jena Malone‘s character’s senior year at Jesus HS. The movie starts during her summer break right before school opens. Her character is in the clique with Mandy’s queen-of-the-school character. But Jena’s boyfriend comes out to her (in more ways than one) and Jesus-High kids don’t deal well with that. Other problems ensue and it forces the inevitable clean ending of the smarter Jesus HS alums dealing with their X-tian thoughts/feelings towards those who don’t fit inside a mold.

Hey wait, don’t all high school movies deal with that? Yeah, but this one is down with the Gee Oh Dee! It’s a good flick, rent it.

Two other items, the actress who plays “The first Jewish at our school” was great (turns out she’s Susan Sarandon’s daughter), and Macauley Culkin is in a wheelchair for the whole movie.

Oh, before you ask, Mandy does not get naked.