DOGMA
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
CAPSULE: Kevin Smith has put together an
extremely ambitious comedy fantasy based on
Christian doctrine. The film is occasionally very
clever, but too often it is heavy-handed.
Ultimately this uneven theological farce fails
because he has thrown too much in and often
communicates it poorly to the audience. Between
heavy violence and heavier ideas, between gross-out
humor and bizarre satire, the film tries to be too
many things. Eventually DOGMA falls apart of its
own weight. Smith is not yet the filmmaker it
would take to make this whole film work. Rating: 5
(0 to 10), low +1 (-4 to +4)
One of my favorite comedies of all time is Stanley Donan's BEDAZZLED featuring the writing and acting of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. It is a retelling of the story of Faust in modern terms. But what makes it funny is are the often hilarious discussions of theology and religious dogma between the Devil and a nebbish Wimpy Burger grill man selling his soul. Films rarely get into humorous examinations of anything so abstract as religious belief and in the deft hands of Cook and Moore it made for a really original comedy. I hardly expected a film along these lines from relative newcomer Kevin Smith, with only the films CLERKS, MALL RATS, and CHASING AMY under his belt. None of these films indicated any inclination toward a far-out fantasy with a humorous take on religious belief, one along the lines of BEDAZZLED. When I heard that was what he had done I came hoping for a lot and I got a lot, but not the same lot. Smith wrote himself a script that a many-year veteran director might have found overly ambitious. There is just too much in the film for it to all hang together. One has the feeling that any fleeting idea Smith had stuck to the script like flypaper. Somehow feces monsters, heavy violence, deep theological discussion, fantasy, and an action thriller plot just do not all fit comfortably in the same film.
The plot is convoluted and often the viewer has to listen quick to get the concepts. Apparently two fallen angels Loki and Bartleby (played by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck) have found a loophole in God's rules so that they can get back into heaven, though they may have to destroy the world to do it. An abortion clinic worker Bethany (Linda Fiorentino) is chosen by the archangel Metatron (Alan Rickman) to stop the two angels. Soon she is traveling with Kevin Smiths repeating characters Jay and Silent Bob. In DOGMA we learn they are prophets of the Lord. This may limit their usefulness to Smith in future films. They are also joined by Rufus (Chris Rock), the 13th Apostle whom we never heard about in the New Testament because he was black. The fact that the film also suggests that Christ was also black requires some fancy explaining. What Smith should have done was drop one idea of the other and not was screen time reconciling the two ideas. There is enough explaining that has to be done in this film as it is. George Carlin has a small role as a Catholic Cardinal with a concept for popularizing religion. It is possible that the ideas for this sequence were all Smith's or perhaps he was writing a pastiche in the style of George Carlin. But the whole George Carlin Buddy Jesus sequence is very, very much in the style of Carlin and it would hardly surprise me to find out that the long-time iconoclastic comedian had a lot of input on his sequence or even wrote it himself. Tiny roles go to Bud Cort and Janeane Garofalo. It is not clear why name actors were needed in such tiny roles.
With CHASING AMY Kevin Smith showed that he could write characters with some emotional complexity. Unfortunately DOGMA does not take the time for developing characters in a meaningful way. The acting and seems much cruder in this film than in CHASING AMY. Some surprisingly crude production values betray the low budget this film must have had. Particularly noticeable early in the film words seem to fit lips very poorly as if the in studio dubbing were not competently done. The plot calls for special effects but they range from adequate to crude.
The script is full of interesting ideas but frequently they go by at lightning speed and such basic concepts as why the action is taking place now rather than at some other point of the past or future seem too quickly glossed over. Consideration should have been given how to convey the ideas better. Inconsistencies mix into Christian theology in the form of a muse from Greek mythology and the Norse god Loki. Humor is always subjective and there were members of the audience laughing, but for me much of the levity for me fell flat and was not even germane to the subject matter (e.g. Wisconsin cheese hats). Smith needs to be more selective in the humor included. Smith might well have considered letting less be more.
DOGMA comes close to subject matter I would have greatly enjoyed. A little refinement of the script could have made this like BEDAZZLED, an intelligent comedy to be savored for years. It still has a lot to offer, but I rat it only a 5 on the 0 to 10 scale and a low +1 on the -4 to +4 scale. DOGMA's reinterpretation of theology is causing the same protest that Milton or Dante might face if they were around today. The upside is that the protests appear for now to be low-key and generally ignored.
Mark R. Leeper
mleeper@lucent.com
Copyright 1999 Mark R. Leeper
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