Towards the end of Dogma, Bethany (Linda Fiorentino) gets to ask God a simple, profound question: "Why are we here?" She doesn't get much of an answer, really, which shouldn't be much of a surprise. Most of the great questions are unanswerable, whether they be "Why do bad things happen to good people?" or "Why can't we all just get along?" or "Why can't the Rangers score runs against the Yankees pitching staff in the post-season?"
Dogma has an unanswerable question of its own: "Why do good things happen to bad movies?"
Dogma is a bad movie, no two ways about it. It seems to be deliberately designed to shock and offend as many people as possible (not that any of the twentysomething slackers who made up the audience I went to seemed to be shocked or offended by much of anything). And it's not just the anti-religious posturing, or the frenzied Catholic-bashing you've heard so much about. More than any other movie in recent memory, Dogma takes unbridled glee in killing. (Like Fight Club before it, Dogma seems destined to spawn copycat incidences of violence.) There's almost as many laughs generated by scenes of mass bloodshed in Dogma as the Austin Powers movies get out of potty humor. (Not that there isn't potty humor in Dogma, and of a particularly repulsive kind.) The story, such as it is, ambles on slowly to a predictable ending, slouching towards New Jersey, if you will. To top off the awfulness, Jason Mewes provides a monumentally stupid appearance that seems destined to win a nomination for this year's Fran Drescher Award for Most Annoying Performance. (Jar-Jar Binks appears to have the trophy sewn up.)
And yet, just as Christian theology demands that we hate the sin but love the sinner, it is possible to hate the horribly bad things about Dogma and celebrate the good things, namely, five outstanding performances out of Dogma's large ensemble cast.
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck appear here together for the first time since they vaulted to fame, fortune, and Oscar success in Good Will Hunting. Their performances here as fallen angels are nowhere near as good in Dogma as they were in Good Will Hunting, but their friendship and easy rapport with each other give life and sparkle to their comparatively dull religious dialogue. They've got an energy and verve that counterbalances their purpose in the film -- which is, to kill a lot of people for no good reason. (One of the things about Dogma that will cause many people offense is the way that it -- literally -- shoots the "Touched by an Angel" stereotype of angels right in the head.) Damon and Affleck are a lot of fun together, and they seem to be having a lot of fun, but one can't help hoping that they got together after filming was done and got to work on their next screenplay.
The third and fourth remarkable performances are by Chris Rock and George Carlin, two of our greatest comic geniuses. Both, however, are smart enough to keep their schtick marginally toned down here. Carlin has the smaller role as the Catholic bishop in charge of marketing the Church to Generation X. Rock has the showier part, as the 13th Apostle. They're both parts that could have been handled in a completely over-the-top fashion, like so much of this movie. But Carlin and Rock both are able to just tone down their characters to fit the satirical mode of the movie. Rock, especially, is almost reflective and gentle at times. It's a side of him we don't get to see often enough.
And the fifth performance, for me, tips the Celestial Scales in Dogma's favor. Alan Rickman gives what may be my favorite performance of the year as a sardonic angel. From his first appearance as a pillar of fire to the end of the movie, Rickman is a wry, sharp delight. The script wisely gives him huge chunks of the ridiculous exposition, which he manages to leaven with a world-weary grace. And when the time comes for him to lay on the really bad news to Linda Fiorentino's human character, he manages a surprising, almost heavenly tenderness.
Dogma will almost certainly offend many viewers and enrage still others. Catholics will be unhappiest, naturally. Protestants (like myself) will have less to complain about, but will still find some scenes shocking. (Jewish and Buddhist and Muslim folks will probably leave the theater scratching their heads somewhat.) But communicants of the Church of Movies will be glad to find solace in the good work displayed by most of the Dogma cast, which redeems much of the awfulness that suffuses the movie. In the end, to mix a religious metaphor, the acting provides just enough karma to keep Dogma from getting run over by the critics. (Yes, I know it's a bad joke, but thank you for reading this far anyway.)
-- Curtis Edmonds blueduck@hsbr.org
Movie Reviews: http://www.hsbr.org/buzz/reviewer/reviews/bdreviews.html http://www.epinions.com/user-curtisedmonds
"Oh, if life were like the movies, I'd never be blue." -- Alan Jackson, "Here In The Real World"
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