DOGMA ***1/2 (out of five stars) A review by Jamey Hughton
Starring-Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Linda Fiorentino, Chris Rock, Alan Rickman, Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith, Salma Hayek and Jason Lee Director-Kevin Smith Rated 14A Lions Gate Films
MOVIE VIEWS by Jamey Hughton http://Welcome.to/MovieViews
A movie that has arose continuous controversy this year is Kevin Smith's new comedy `Dogma'. The film was said to be deeply offensive toward Catholics in it's manner of using organized religion as a basis for comedy. Smith offers a disclaimer before the events in `Dogma' even commence, stating that the film is not to be taken seriously and that it's a work of comedic fantasy. He adds that `even God has a sense of humor - just look at the platypus' (afterward, an apology is made to platypus fanatics, but that's a different story).
In handling it's religious views, `Dogma' is certainly not as offensive as you've been told. Smith actually takes the deep Catholicism quite seriously, posing intriguing questions and answering them with a great deal of faith and understanding. While not one of the best films of the year, `Dogma' is a thoroughly interesting experience full of surprising audacity.
Two fallen angels named Loki (Matt Damon) and Bartleby (Ben Affleck) have been inhabiting the city of Wisconsin after they were banned from Heaven for all eternity. Upon the arrival of an unidentified newspaper clipping, the pair realize a possible way to re-enter the pearly gates: a loophole in the Catholic dogma found in a church in New Jersey. Passing through the arch at this church would grant them a trip back into Heaven, but at the same time, it would wipe out all of human existence. Metatron (Alan Rickman), the voice of God, is dispatched to find the ‘Last Scion' (or the savior of all human kind). The Scion is none other than abortion clinic employee Bethany (Linda Fiorentino), who must prevent Loki and Bartleby's passage into the church. Assisting her are the two unlikely street prophets Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (director Smith), although they mainly just obsess about beautiful women and smoke a lot of pot. Reprising their roles from `Clerks', `Mallrats' and `Chasing Amy', Mewes and Smith are now (I'm convinced) two of the funniest characters in modern cinema.
Along their trek to New Jersey, more heavenly assistance is sent. Rufus (Chris Rock), who claims to be the unknown 13th Apostle, falls out of the sky and lands on the highway pavement in the nude. Jay and Silent Bob encounter Serendipity (Salma Hayek), a muse turned stripper who claims responsibility for 19 of the 20 top-grossing films of all time. Following our saviors is the horned demon Azrael (Jason Lee) and his three roller-blading henchmen. I suppose `Dogma' is somewhat of a road movie, and like most road movies, there are times the pace lags and the interest is inconsistent.
There are also plenty of moments when the humor is side-splitting. The duo of Mewes and Smith constantly delivers (Mewes with the punchline, Smith with the deadpan reaction). As the leading heroine, Fiorentino has too little to do with her important agenda, but the remainder of the cast is solid and well-balanced. Damon and Affleck have always performed well together, and here they provide the film's most thought-provoking moments. Examine the scene in which Loki and Bartleby grill a group of board members on their past sins, and you'll realize that `Dogma' functions on separate levels than a simple religious comedy.
The remarkable script, written by Smith, covers a lot of unlikely bases with a surprising amount of success. There's a hefty dose of cartoonish violence thrown in (such as a sequence that could be dubbed ‘Attack of the Excrement Monster'), but none of it is particularly unsettling because it looks purposely fake. Critic Roger Ebert has written that perhaps non-Catholics should be issued a catechism at the door, but I think the material doesn't lean that deeply into spirituality. `Dogma' provides honest laughs and is sure to please the majority of Smith's loyal followers (if they have forgiven him for `Mallrats'), but at the same time, it's a bit of a departure for the acclaimed writer/director. This film certainly has more widespread issues and pervasive violence, but Smith never loses grasp, although he slips a bit in the occasional interval of boring dialogue. An interesting move: Alanis Morisette has a cameo as God. Isn't that ironic? (ha, ha... never mind).
Offensive? I don't think so. I would simply call `Dogma' a revelation of truthful and interesting comedy.
(C) 1999, Jamey Hughton
MOVIE VIEWS by Jamey Hughton http://Welcome.to/MovieViews
Comments Appreciated! ">HREF="mailto:movieviews@hotmail.com">
The review above was posted to the
rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup (de.rec.film.kritiken for German reviews).
The Internet Movie Database accepts no responsibility for the contents of the
review and has no editorial control. Unless stated otherwise, the copyright
belongs to the author.
Please direct comments/criticisms of the review to relevant newsgroups.
Broken URLs inthe reviews are the responsibility of the author.
The formatting of the review is likely to differ from the original due
to ASCII to HTML conversion.
Related links: index of all rec.arts.movies.reviews reviews