When I first saw the trailer for this film, I was quite impressed and very intrigued. Then the film came out and the reviews were pretty much split 50/50 – half saying it was a brilliant satire of intolerant Evangelical Fundamentalists and the other half saying it was a mean-spirited attack on all of Christianity. Jerry Falwell went as far as to say that the film was "the most hateful thing to come out of Hollywood ever." Falwell is also the one who refers to women at a certain all women's college in his hometown of Lynchberg, VA as "the whores on the hill." He also said that feminists and homosexuals were the cause of 9/11. So he's pretty knowledgeable about hateful things. But I digress. I think people who call this film hateful are either too afraid at not looking PC or don't like the film airing their dirty laundry.
The story follows the students of a Christian school. Mary (Jena Malone, DONNIE DARKO) has a pretty perfect looking life. Her and her best friend Hilary Faye (Mandy Moore, A WALK TO REMEMBER) are the most popular girls in school and just the best Christians they think they can be. Then during summer break, Mary's boyfriend Dean (Chad Faust, TV miniseries TAKEN) reveals that he's gay and Mary ends up believing that Jesus wants her to sleep with Dean to turn him straight. After Dean is shipped off by his parents for de-gayification, Mary discovers that she is pregnant. She starts to lose faith and ends up becoming friends with the rebellious Jewish girl, Cassandra (Eva Amurri, THE BANGER SISTERS) and her boyfriend, Roland, the wheelchair-bound twin brother of Hilary Faye (Macaulay Culkin, PARTY MONSTER). Mary's new friends help her conceal her pregnancy and the soon-to-be-new-mother avoids the charming advances of Patrick (Patrick Fugit, ALMOST FAMOUS), the skateboarder son of the school's principal, Pastor Skip (Martin Donovan, THE OPPOSITE OF SEX), who is having an affair with Mary's mother Lillian (Mary-Louise Parker, FRIED GREEN TOMATOES).
What makes the satire so amazing is that writer/director Brian Dannelly and co-writer Michael Urban know this world. They lived in it. Some moments are played slightly over-the-top for laughs, but when they play the moments totally straight it's often funny and powerful at the same time. The characters are all well developed and each of them have their flaws, which is a big point of the film. The casting was perfect. Mandy Moore is amazing, totally able to shed her good girl pop star image in this film. Eva Amurri (Susan Sarandon daughter) also makes a breakout. She joyously embraces her bad girl role and relishes in doing more outrageous things to get attention. The film is filled with subtle smart moments. Two that really sick out is Pastor Skip's reaction to Mary's pregnancy and Hilary Faye's praying at her bed. These scenes show a lot about faith and right intentions, but how we as flawed humans tend to lead ourselves astray through our deep desires.
Is this film against Christianity? Nope. It's for a more tolerant Christianity. Look at the Patrick character and tell me if he's not a true Christian. He's more practical about his faith and represents a subtle example of unobtrusive Christian goodwill. You can save more flies with honey than a sledgehammer.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
