Saved

Canadian newspaper
Christian bands turn down movie role By Peter T. Chattaway

Most independent rock bands would jump at the chance to appear in a Hollywood movie, especially one produced by R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe. But several Christian musicians in the Vancouver area turned down just such an opportunity a few weeks ago when they were asked to fill in for an American band that backed out of a film at the last minute.

The reason they turned the film down? The script, which makes fun of born-again Christians.

Co-written and directed by first-time feature filmmaker Brian Dannelly, "Saved" is a religious satire, set in a Christian high school, about a girl named Mary (played by The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys' Jena Malone) who becomes pregnant after sleeping with her gay boyfriend in an unsuccessful attempt to make him straight.

After she becomes pregnant and her boyfriend is sent to a facility for "de-gayification", Mary is ostracized by most of her classmates, who are led by a pious snob named Hilary Faye (played by teen pop singer Mandy Moore, who was praised by many Christians for her portrayal of a Baptist pastor's daughter in "A Walk to Remember").

Meanwhile, Mary's mother has a secret affair with the school's pastor (played by Martin Donovan, who played Jesus in Hal Hartley's apocalyptic comedy "The Book of Life").

The script originally called for the Elms, a Christian band that recently toured with Jars of Clay, to play themselves in a scene at the high school prom; the characters even talk about the Elms in the script. But the Elms backed out of the film a week before the prom scene was going to be shot, and the filmmakers scrambled to find a replacement.

Craig Jager, manager for Venere, said his band turned the film down because of the script's mocking tone. "It's over the top. It brings out a radical type of Christian lifestyle. It really goes overboard with the Christian jargon," he said.

Jager conceded the film could serve as a "wake-up call" to people in the church who are not very forgiving, but he said its satirical depiction of born-again Christians goes too far. "One of the band members said yeah, the church does have flaws, but they don't need this kind of publicity. It's not really offering any kind of solutions," he said.

The filmmakers eventually chose the secular band Day Theory, but one Christian band did come close to appearing in the film, which wrapped at the end of October.

James O'Neill, lead singer of the Catholic group Sheep, said his band saw an opportunity to spread the gospel on the film's set. "We thought, if anything, being there and playing and setting an example, we could evangelize these kids," he said. But he added the band had wrestled with its decision and was ultimately relieved not to be selected for the film. "I just put it down to the fact that God obviously didn't want us to be involved with it."

Matt Safran, a music supervisor with the talent agency S. F. Feldman & Associates, said he also approached Broken, Surreal, Stabilo Boss and the Alberta-based Jake about appearing in the film. He said the filmmakers turned to Canadian bands because they didn't have time to fill out the necessary paperwork to bring in another band from across the border after the Elms backed out of the film. "It's somewhat rare for me to find integrity among bands who say that they're upset with the content of a project, especially among independent artists," said Safran.

Although a secular band was hired in the end, the film's cast, which also includes former "Home Alone" star Macaulay Culkin and "Almost Famous's" Patrick Fugit, did get to see Christian musicians in action. Director Dannelly took the cast to one of the Revolution teen worship services at Christian Life Assembly in Langley shortly before filming began.

The makers of "Saved" have been sending out mixed signals on how the film will approach the subject of Christianity. Stipe told Variety magazine the film was "like those monster vampire high school kind of movies, only here the monsters are Jesus-freak teenagers."

Others involved in the production have said the film is not quite so slanted. Dannelly, who co-wrote the script with Michael Urban, hinted in an interview with the Vancouver Sun's Lynne McNamara that the film may be based on his own experiences in Jewish summer camps and Christian schools. "I'm not sure if I should say this, but I pray every morning, I pray every night, I pray every time I go to the set," Dannelly told the Sun. "I always say Jesus wants this movie made."

Chad Faust, a Vancouver-based actor who plays Mary's gay boyfriend, told McNamara he wasn't sure at first whether the script he read was for a spoof or a serious Christian film: "It doesn't hack or promote Christianity, it just offers a more, perhaps, organic perspective as to what it's really about. I think it's quite a beautiful message."

Former child star Culkin, who plays Hilary Faye's wheelchair-bound brother, offered a slightly different take on the film's premise: "As long as you're a good person that's all that really matters."

For his part, Elms vocalist Owen Thomas posted a statement on his band's web site after news of their involvement with the film became public. Thomas said they pulled out of the film because being a part of it would have required them "to condone and support things we're wholeheartedly against, moral and spiritual issues... we're not ready to forfeit our loyalty to those things."

Thomas did not say why the band had been attached to the film in the first place.