In the past few years, the teenage-audience film has been a constant genre, and for the most part are either hit-or-miss. Ever since John Hughes hit on the winning formula in the mid-Eighties, studios have tried to emulate the trials-and-tribulations of the teenage years, mixing in relevant comedy and romance where needed. If done well, this genre brings in not only the teenagers it’s portraying, but also the young adult market that has been there and wants to look back and revisit their youth.

However, when is a formulaic teenage romantic comedy not a teenage romantic comedy? When it’s packaged as a Catholic religion-skewering satire, that’s when. With the plot based around a group of teenagers at a Catholic High School, the characters in United Artist’s “Saved!” are not your ‘normal’ teenagers having romance problems and feeling awkward. No, they have to deal with Jesus every day, too.

The story centers on the “Christian Jewels,” the popular girl clique, and their Senior Year at American Eagle Christian High School. When Mary (Jena Malone) finds out that her boyfriend is gay, she receives a vision that tells her that she needs to help him get through his “affliction,” and ends up pregnant with his baby in the process. Confused as to why Jesus would mislead her like that, Mary hides her shameful secret and starts to question her religion. As the year wears on, she rebels and starts hanging out with Cassandra, the schools rebel and only Jew, and Cassandra’s wheel chair-bound boyfriend Roland (Macaulay Culkin). To make matters worse, Roland’s sister is Hillary Faye (Mandy Moore), the spoiled leader of the Jewels, who sees Mary’s rebellion as less than righteous and tries to save her.

The heart of the film is Jena Malone’s Mary, as she struggles to understand what’s happened to her life as she goes through senior year of high school and about to become an unwed mother. Questioning her faith and coming to the understanding that her religion is not a weapon (right after Hillary throws the bible at her) are intertwined with her feelings about a new boy at school make the discourse fun to watch, and a bit heart wrenching. Moore plays Hillary as the overboard-religious nut so well that hopefully she keeps on this track in future roles. As for Culkin, let’s just say he plays the understated “differently-abled” role well, and is back to the doe-eyed cute kid role that he needs to adhere to.

The film succeeds in the way that it pokes fun at the aspect of religion in our lives, from the overly zealous Hillary to the faith-questioning Mary, and everyone in between. Making fun of religion can be a tricky process, sometimes going too far, or sometimes not going far enough, but “Saved!” hits it right in the funny bone; throwing teenage angst in the mix sweetens the concoction. What makes the film endearing is that underneath it all, we’re all the same, no matter what your beliefs are. While the ending is a bit of an all-too-convenient wrap-up that nicely ties all loose ends together, it still seems to work. Hallelujah!