An abysmal box office showing of $8.9 million quickly proved that the religious comedy Saved! was no Passion of the Christ. Surprisingly, Christians won’t support a film that seems to pick on them, no matter how many celebrities say the movie is pro-faith.
But despite its weak box office showing, Saved! is out on DVD for a second chance with a few extras. While it’s not a movie I’d recommend for my mom, it’s worth checking out for those with a sense of humor about today’s Christianity and a willingness to keep up their intellectual guard. (read my complete review)
Gah, I hate text at times, as it’s harder to tell when someone is joking or not. Are you seriously surprised it didn’t get much support?
Even if you dig it for it’s spot on humor, and aren’t offended by it, the rest of it sounds lukewarm. Anyways, maybe I’m misreading you: I’m not too surprised the movie didn’t do well.
Sigh. Yes, Neals, I’m joking.
My girlfriend and I (both politically moderate Christians) rented Saved! last night, and I really liked two-thirds of it. Near the end it did devolve into more of a teen comedy than I had the stomach for (my one complaint).
From a believer’s perspective I thought it brought up a few interesting theological points: Hillary Faye saying “That felt really good” after concluding the prayer circle; Hillary Faye telling Mary she was “backsliding into the flames of hell;” the implicit comparison between the virgin Mary and the protagonist; the altar call on the first day of classes.
I can understand why fundamentalist types would boycott this movie; Saved!‘s depiction of them resorts to hyperbole for laughs but isn’t too far off base otherwise (by my observation, anyhow).
All in all I liked it like I liked Dogma: there are a few parts that made me cringe, but there are far more that made me shake my head at just how big and insulated the “Christian bubble” has become in many places. It’s really easy to jump and shout “Thank you Jesus!” at church than it is to non-confrontationally share my faith at the office. But that’s nothing new.
LOL, sorry buddy. You do the same to me at times, and hey, sometimes you have unreal expectations of things!
But the rest of why it didn’t do so well is a good question. What stopped non-Christians from seeing it? Do people not get religious jokes anymore? Or did it really go to far?
Long-winded version: I’d disagree with you, Kevin, that $8.9 million is an “abysmal” showing. That’s actually very high for an independently produced feature with a budget of $5 million. Add in international sales (I don’t know if UA distributed it internationally) and home video rentals (where features like this often make the most money), and this should be a moderately profitable film. (The makers of the film probably won’t see much of that money, since I’m guessing they sold the rights to the film when the got UA to distribute it, but I couldn’t be sure about that.)
Short-winded summary: $8.9 is pretty good for an indie film.