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DOGMA * * out of * * * * stars ========================
DIRECTED BY: Kevin Smith STARRING: Linda Fiorentino, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Jason Mewes, Chris Rock, Alan Rickman, Salma Hayek, Kevin Smith WRITTEN BY: Kevin Smith RATED: R for strong language including sex-related dialogue, violence, crude humor, and some drug content. SCRIPTURE REFERENCES: Mark 7:6-7, 1 Timothy 4:1-3, 1 Thessalonians 2:13
To paraphrase FORREST GUMP, "Dangerous is as dangerous does." Contrary to the prescreening buzz, the new Kevin Smith film, DOGMA, is not a danger to our spiritual well-being. It may be, at various times, brilliant, boring, misguided, insightful, or offensive. But dangerous? No. What it asks us, in its irreverently humorous fashion, is to take a hard look at our religious institutions and check whether we can still see God there. If this is considered to be threatening to those institutions, perhaps an introspective look is long overdue.
The film does levy a number of charges against organized religion, specifically Roman Catholicism, calling it a place where people don't celebrate their faith, they mourn it, treating God as more of a burden than a blessing.
Ben Affleck (FORCES OF NATURE) and Matt Damon (GOOD WILL HUNTING) are a pair of fallen angels, banished to Wisconsin for having the effrontery to question God. A public relations campaign (Catholicism Wow!) headed by Cardinal Glick (George Carlin, BILL & TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE) has given them an opportunity to take advantage of a "loophole" in God's edict, and make their way back into heaven. The trouble is, if they do so, it would be proof that God is not infallible and the very fabric of existence would be shredded.
To stop them, an angel, a muse, an apostle, two prophets and the great, great, (followed by many more greats), grandniece of Jesus Christ band together to save both heaven and earth. God (Alanis Morissette) would do it, but she has assumed human form to play skee-ball and hasn't yet returned to heaven.
Mr. Smith has assembled an impressive array of talent. Alan Rickman (JUDAS KISS) is acerbically funny as Metatron, the voice of God, who is as anatomically challenged as a Ken doll. Linda Fiorentino (THE LAST SEDUCTION) is Bethany, a woman whose faith is wavering but because of her ancestral roots, has been tapped to save existence. Chris Rock (LETHAL WEAPON IV) is Rufus, the 13th apostle, who claims to have been omitted from the biblical records due to racist bigotry. Jason Mewes (CLERKS) and Kevin Smith (MALLRATS) return as the Jay and Silent Bob characters of earlier Smith films, playing a pair of prophets for whom "religious sects" conjures up a phonetic meaning.
DOGMA is ultimately disappointing because it wastes a grand opportunity to make some valid points. It is hard to take seriously a picture that features a creature formed from the excrement of those crucified at Golgotha. But it is equally difficult to dismiss a film which obviously operates from a perspective that God is real and all powerful and that Jesus Christ is His son. If one can wade through the toilet humor, sexual references, and shocking imagery employed by Mr. Smith, one might find a number of theological issues worthy of consideration buried beneath the profanity and offensive material.
What we find is that Mr. Smith has not pointed his judgmental (and scatological) finger at God but rather at how men have chosen to worship God via the frameworks they have constructed for that purpose. The disappointment of which I speak comes partly from the uneven presentation of this legitimate message. For every profound and verifiable observation made by Mr. Smith, we are subjected to a number of erroneous suppositions. And of course, it is all camouflaged within a package of outrageous behavior and offensive humor.
For instance, Rufus logically instructs Bethany on the existence of Jesus' earthly siblings, refuting the Roman Catholic view of Mary as a perpetual virgin. Such a claim can be substantiated by scripture (Mark 6:3). But later, Rufus makes the statement that belief systems as a whole are faulty and we should instead rely on the free exchange of ideas. That is simply a lie. While false doctrines exist and should be avoided, there is a truth which can be believed wholeheartedly. There just wasn't enough of it represented in this film.
Michael Elliott November 1999 http://www.christiancritic.com
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