DOGMA *** (out of four) -a review by Bill Chambers (bill@filmfreakcentral.net)
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starring Linda Fiorentino, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Chris Rock written and directed by Kevin Smith
Linda Fiorentino disappeared off the radar after a deservedly heralded turn in the cable pic The Last Seduction, and her being cast as Dogma's lead is nothing short of inexplicable. She's still in fine form as Bethany, an abortion clinic worker who's lost her faith. One night, a visitor from heaven makes a fiery entrance in Bethany's bedroom. He is Metatron (Alan Rickman), the voice of God, and he needs her help: she must stop two fallen angels from entering a New Jersey church-the fate of the universe depends on it. God would do it Him/Herself, but He/She is...missing, having taken up human form somewhere on Earth never to be heard from again.
Bethany is joined on her road trip to the Garden State by the "prophets" Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith, doing double-duty), the slacker minstrels who have appeared in all of Smith's films thus far. At some point, Rock drops naked out of the sky as Rufus, the undocumented (and very black) "thirteenth apostle", and offers his assistance, as does divine stripper Serendipity (Salma Hayek). It's a wild ride.
They're in pursuit of Loki and Bartleby (Damon and Affleck, respectively-this is probably the sharpest either has ever been), who were banished from heaven to Wisconsin and have discovered a dogmatic loophole that will enable their return. Loki decides to wreak havoc along the way with the knowledge that his sins will be absolved at the pearly gates. At one point, he terrorizes a boardroom full of suits with an angry combination of words and bullets. It's a nasty, guiltily enjoyable little scene that asks, "How corrupt are you?". Wings of Desire this ain't.
Since debuting with Clerks, Smith has grown as a director, particularly in terms of working with actors. (Chris Rock is this film's only weak link-between jokes, he's wooden.) His no-frills visual style hasn't changed much over the years, though (Dogma's widescreen compositions at least have blockbuster affectations), nor has his writing-his characters still sit around delivering one caustic, hilarious speech after another. Dogma chips away at big religious issues-namely, the hypocrisy that accompanies any organized system of beliefs-eloquently and articulately, but a few of the monologues sound too much like blatant exposition. As well, the verbal introduction of each new person seems to take forever.
Any movie with this much weighty talk would have a hard time maintaining momentum (Hurlyburly, anyone?), and eventually Dogma's pacing goes slack. A long diatribe from Bartleby late in the game, in which he laments the destiny of celestial beings, comes at a point when we've heard enough. Because his change of heart (Bartleby is initially the good cop to Loki's bad) drives the climax, said rant is given a great deal of screen time. Sure, Affleck deserved a big moment (Damon steals their scenes together prior), but it ultimately makes the film and us feel bloated.
Like Tarantino, Smith was a video-age sponge who became a sample-mad indie filmmaker. Dogma pays welcome homage to an eclectic batch of movies, including Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, with Silent Bob doing his best Harrison Ford, and Weird Science-a shit demon attacks our heroes! Smith also has a kitchen sink brand of humour: his dexterous maneuvering between the satirical (a Cardinal played by George Carlin attempts to mount a publicity campaign with the slogan "Catholicism Wow!") and the scatalogical ensures that no lover of comedy will leave Dogma feeling malnourished. I bust(ed?) a gut on several occasions. Proceedings also get off on the right foot with the opening with the funniest disclaimer ever.
It's a disclaimer unlikely to put protestors at ease, for to read it, one actually has to see Dogma. The prerelease ballyhoo is in the tradition of The Last Temptation of Christ's, Martin Scorsese's 1988 adaptation of Nikos Kazantzakis' controversial novel, in that it is not directly linked to the picture's content but to rumours and heresy. There's a famous anecdote about Fletch director Michael Ritchie inviting picketers of The Last Temptation of Christ into a screening on his dime, just so they could know for certain what they were rallying against. (Not one of them had watched it.) Every single person refused.
Smith and Scorsese have a lot in common, and so do the two films in question, because both Smith's Bethany and Scorsese's Jesus are hollow shells without their faith. In fact, Dogma's denouement (which follows a thrilling showdown that's worth the wait) is a Catholic love-in, a veritable recruitment poster. (I felt sentimental about a religion I don't belong to. Now that's powerful filmmaking.) Smith is nothing if not sincere about his own devotion to God, and that spirituality shines through. It's enough to make me forgive Dogma for its editorial sins.
My religion is movies. When the Catholic League beats on Dogma for imaginary crimes against a doctrine, in a roundabout way they're attacking what I live for: freedom of expression through celluloid. I therefore feel that, although I'm no Bible-thumper, I'm at least as qualified to criticize Dogma as William Donohue and his followers.
-November, 1999
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