Dogma
3.5/4
Starring: Linda Fiorentino, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Alan Rickman, Chris Rock, Salma Hayek, Jason Lee, Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith, George Carlin
Rated R for Strong Language including Sex-Related Dialogue, Violence, Crude Humor, and Some Drug Content
"Dogma" is a comedy about ideas. That's an extremely rare thing to find. It would be too easy for Kevin Smith to spend a surprisingly quick 2+ hours taking cheap potshots at religion, but fortunately he doesn't take the easy way out. Rather, he finds humor in the philosophy of religion and his characters' viewpoints.
Bartleby (Affleck) and Loki (Damon) are two fallen angels who have found a loophole to get them back into heaven. Of course, this presents a problem for everyone because it would render God fallible, thus destroying our entire reality. That's when Bethany (Fiorentino) gets a visit from Metatron, The Voice of God (Rickman), who tells her to head to New Jersey to stop them. She has help from Metatron, Rufus, the 13th Apostle (Rock), a muse named Serendipity (Hayek) and two prophets, Jay (Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith).
The performances are terrific from top to bottom. Linda Fiorentino, whose difficult nature made Kevin Smith regret hiring her instead of Janeane Garafalo (who has a cameo in the beginning as Bethany's co-worker at the abortion clinic) is great as the sarcastic but vulnerable Bethany. The role demands comic and dramatic skills, and Fiorentino has both. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon make a great duo (Affleck has never looked sexier), with Damon in particular having fun playing a character with limited brainpower but a love for doling out judgement. Alan Rickman also shines in a role that, like Fiorentino, requires him to do drama and comedy. Everyone else does fine work, too.
What I liked about the film is that while provoking smiles and laughs, it gave me things to think about. It's not all crude sex jokes (although there are some of those). Instead, it's about figuring out what it all means. Life, faith, and so on. These are things that Smith ponders, much of which is presented with a humorous slant. It is, after all, a comedy.
Upon its release, it was hugely controversial. The Catholic League protested it loudly (but then again, they protest just about anything), and I recall a news story about how deeply religious people were offended by it. I have no sympathy for either group. The Catholic League is wound way too tight, and anyone who walked into a Kevin Smith movie looking for clean entertainment deserved what they got. Actually, the Catholic League's reaction is exactly what the film is speaking out against. Smith argues that people treat religion as an "obligation" or "following the rules" rather than simply having faith. I would have been surprised to learn that William Donahue of the Catholic League blasted the film for six months, except for the fact that he hadn't seen it. After he did, he requested a "special screening" of the film with Kevin Smith to talk about it intelligently. Smith quipped, "So what's he been doing for the last six months?"
I admire the film more for its ideas and intelligence rather than its humor quotient. I'm not saying it's devoid of humor, it's just that it's more of a "wit" variety. I also applaud its respectful treatment of Catholicism and religion in general. While Smith has some fun at the Bible's inconsistencies and past blemishes, being mean is not on his agenda. That's something to be happy about.
Starring: Linda Fiorentino, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Alan Rickman, Chris Rock, Salma Hayek, Jason Lee, Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith, George Carlin
Rated R for Strong Language including Sex-Related Dialogue, Violence, Crude Humor, and Some Drug Content
"Dogma" is a comedy about ideas. That's an extremely rare thing to find. It would be too easy for Kevin Smith to spend a surprisingly quick 2+ hours taking cheap potshots at religion, but fortunately he doesn't take the easy way out. Rather, he finds humor in the philosophy of religion and his characters' viewpoints.
Bartleby (Affleck) and Loki (Damon) are two fallen angels who have found a loophole to get them back into heaven. Of course, this presents a problem for everyone because it would render God fallible, thus destroying our entire reality. That's when Bethany (Fiorentino) gets a visit from Metatron, The Voice of God (Rickman), who tells her to head to New Jersey to stop them. She has help from Metatron, Rufus, the 13th Apostle (Rock), a muse named Serendipity (Hayek) and two prophets, Jay (Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith).
The performances are terrific from top to bottom. Linda Fiorentino, whose difficult nature made Kevin Smith regret hiring her instead of Janeane Garafalo (who has a cameo in the beginning as Bethany's co-worker at the abortion clinic) is great as the sarcastic but vulnerable Bethany. The role demands comic and dramatic skills, and Fiorentino has both. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon make a great duo (Affleck has never looked sexier), with Damon in particular having fun playing a character with limited brainpower but a love for doling out judgement. Alan Rickman also shines in a role that, like Fiorentino, requires him to do drama and comedy. Everyone else does fine work, too.
What I liked about the film is that while provoking smiles and laughs, it gave me things to think about. It's not all crude sex jokes (although there are some of those). Instead, it's about figuring out what it all means. Life, faith, and so on. These are things that Smith ponders, much of which is presented with a humorous slant. It is, after all, a comedy.
Upon its release, it was hugely controversial. The Catholic League protested it loudly (but then again, they protest just about anything), and I recall a news story about how deeply religious people were offended by it. I have no sympathy for either group. The Catholic League is wound way too tight, and anyone who walked into a Kevin Smith movie looking for clean entertainment deserved what they got. Actually, the Catholic League's reaction is exactly what the film is speaking out against. Smith argues that people treat religion as an "obligation" or "following the rules" rather than simply having faith. I would have been surprised to learn that William Donahue of the Catholic League blasted the film for six months, except for the fact that he hadn't seen it. After he did, he requested a "special screening" of the film with Kevin Smith to talk about it intelligently. Smith quipped, "So what's he been doing for the last six months?"
I admire the film more for its ideas and intelligence rather than its humor quotient. I'm not saying it's devoid of humor, it's just that it's more of a "wit" variety. I also applaud its respectful treatment of Catholicism and religion in general. While Smith has some fun at the Bible's inconsistencies and past blemishes, being mean is not on his agenda. That's something to be happy about.
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