Save Me
Mark Malloy
2007
 A deft exploration of the controversial
ex-gay movement, SAVE ME follows Mark (Chad Allen), a sex and
drug-addicted young man who overdoses and finds himself at the mercy of
his disapproving family. Their solution to Mark's problems is to check
him into a Christian-run ministry overseen by Gayle (Judith Light), who
believes she can help cure young men of their 'gay affliction' through
spiritual guidance. At first, Mark resists the efforts of Gayle and her
loving husband, Ted (Stephen Lang), but soon finds solace and
brotherhood with several of the members, including Scott (Robert Gant),
who is battling family demons of his own. When Mark and Scott begin to
find their friendship developing into an unexpected romance, both are
forced to confront the new attitudes they've begun to accept, and Gayle
finds the values she holds as an absolute truth to be threatened.
Directed by Robert Cary from a screenplay
by Craig Chester, Alan Hines and Robert Desiderio, SAVE ME is a
love story that offers a complex and timely examination of one of the
most polarizing religious and sexual debates in America while
intricately showing all the way love (for oneself, more importantly) can
heal in all its various forms.
"Save Me" starring
Chad Allen (Dr Quinn, End of the Spear), Robert Gant (Queer as Folk), and
Judith Light (Who’s the Boss, Ugly Betty) is an indie film about a young
man in an ex-gay ministry. The film premiered yesterday at the Sundance
Film Festival and early reporting suggests a well-crafted and nuanced film
that sensitively looks at the lives of those who participate in ex-gay
ministries.
The film is getting favorable reviews from the Religious Right and the Gay
Community. Here are just a few tidbits of what's been already reported
about the film.
USA Today
"Years in the making, Robert Cary’s exquisite third feature, Save Me, is a
film about redemption. Mark (Chad Allen), a lost, young, gay man, leads a
wild life of drugs and meaningless sex, searching desperately to fill the
emptiness in his soul. When Mark finally hits bottom, his brother checks
him into Genesis House, a 12-step, Christian, “ex-gay” ministry
specializing in healing sexual brokenness."
Christianity Today
"One of the things that struck me about this film was how the filmmakers
(some who are themselves gay as we learned during the question and answer
time following the screening) portrayed the motives and stories of the
conservative Christians who lead the ex-gay ministry with tenderness and
grace. Is it possible that many in the gay community are more gracious in
their understanding of Evangelical Christians than we are towards them?"
David Swanson, associate pastor
 "After
a quick night’s sleep, we lined up for a 9:00 AM screening of Save Me, a
film about a young man’s journey through a Christian "ex-gay" 12-step
ministry. This was a hard film to see and one I would only recommend
sparingly. I left the theatre completely wrecked—my head spinning.
The film portrays the
struggles of gay men convinced their behavior is sinful and the attempts
to restore them by a husband and wife who believe faith in Jesus is the
only way these men will experience wholeness.
One of the things that
struck me about this film was how the filmmakers (some who are themselves
gay as we learned during the question and answer time following the
screening) portrayed the motives and stories of the conservative
Christians who lead the ex-gay ministry with tenderness and grace. Is it
possible that many in the gay community are more gracious in their
understanding of Evangelical Christians than we are towards them?"
Bob Davidson, Fuller Theology Student and Sundance participant.
"It was at the film’s conclusion that I found myself, a professed
“Christian”, surrounded by the tears from numerous individuals, both gay
and straight—completely distraught by what I had just experienced. I
could not help but be embarrassed of my faith and its “typical” response
to the gay community.
However, as actor Chad Allen and actress Judith Light shared, I was taken
aback by the non-threatening posture of the cast and crew (and the film
for that matter). Nobody was enraged. Nobody was protesting. And nobody
was blaming. Light commented on her own transformation within the
role—having to “stop judging [Evangelicals].” Producer Herb Hamsher
claimed the film as a “conversation”—one that differs from the typical
dialogue that stays inside one’s own community with the wool pulled over
the eyes. Hamsher expounded by stating, “We want to open the
conversation and speak over the wool.” This was a profound gesture on
behalf of the filmmakers, who had clearly succeeded in creating a diffused
space of interaction, grace, and reconciliation—an environment that the
Christian community often fall short in creating."
When Sex and Faith Collide: Save Me Review
in Gay City News
Entertainment Weekly Review |
