- Title: Dogma
- IMDb: link
I give huge props to anyone who attempts to do a religious film, much less a religious comedy. The level of controversy, protests, and roadblocks, has to be at time overwhelming. Hate mail, death threats, money and distribution issues, and a host of new actors who he hadn’t worked with before and special effects shots which he’d never done – and you know what? Kevin Smith proves his doubters wrong. It’s a pretty entertainin’ flick, which underneath the giant poop monster and “bad language” actually has a few insightful things to say about the nature of religion.
When two fallen angels Bartleby, (Ben Affleck) and Loki (Matt Damon), discover a loophole back into heaven the Last Scion, Bethany (Linda Fiorentino), is called upon to stop them. Along the way she is aided by the Voice of God – the angel Metatron (Alan Rickman), the 13th apostle (Chris Rock), a muse (Salma Hayek), and two prophets – Jay (Jason Mewes) and his hetero-lifemate Silent Bob (Kevin Smith).
If the two angels enter a Catholic Church under “planetary indulgence” their sins are forgiven and they can re-enter heaven. In doing so they would prove an infallible God fallible thus negating all existence. The entire plot has been orchestrated by a demon named Azrael (Jason Lee) who is so sick of Hell that he is willing to destroy everything.
Some of my favorite scenes involves Loki taking back his role as the Angel of Death and smiting sinners on a bus trip and a business room.
There are times during the film where the dramatic/comedic mix doesn’t quite work. Did I mention the rubber poop monster? The Golgathan is actually a clever piece of writing, if you listen to Hayek tell his origin, but the entire sequence is a little too far over the top for me.
The only other sequence which really bothered me is Bethany’s crisis of faith at the campire and run through the woods into the lake screaming “Why me!” It just feels too forced (in that All My Children kinda’ way) and again seems too far outside the mood of the rest of the film.
Nice performances all the way around especially by Damon and Affleck. Rickman’s portrayal of Metatron as an aging Ziggy Stardust is quite entertaining – though at times you can tell he’s struggling with a back injury that took place during shooting. Rock is his entertaining self, but doesn’t go overboard or take-over scenes.
George Carlin provides some funny moments with his Catholicism Now campaign, and Jason Mewes actual shines in a pretty complete and convincing performance. I would like to have seen more of Lee and Hayek also, but hey, I want to see more of them in everything.
Smith took some heat for his casting of God, but I thought Alanis Morissette worked quite well as the supreme being. Morissette was originally slated to for the role of Bethany but was unable due to other commitments. Smith has stated that there is a possibility of a sequel in the far future and one of his conditions is Morissette would play Bethany. I’d pay to see that.
This movie tries to straddle the serious look at religious beliefs and Catholic dogma with some pretty lowbrow humor (did I mention there’s a giant poop monster?). I would have liked a little more biting hard-edged look, but given the subject matter I can understand why Smith decided to go this route.
The film succeeds in its goals. It works both as a stand-alone film and as a part of the “New Jersey Trilogy,” it proves Kevin Smith can direct a film with wide visual scope, and that he could take a $10 million dollar picture and make back three times its cost. Not bad for a guy that some say doesn’t know one end of a camera from the other. You know what I say? Don’t stop shooting for the moon Silent Bob, and “fly fatass, fly!”