Overall Rating
  Awesome: 40.65%
Worth A Look: 26.56%
Average: 13.86%
Pretty Bad: 10.16%
Total Crap: 8.78%
21 reviews, 307 user ratings
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| Dogma |
by PyThomas
"Thou shalt laugh hysterically."

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I'm positively sure God has a sense of humor. And not a sick sense of humor like Depeche Mode once said. Okay, maybe a little off-kilter. God is probably laughing his ass off at Marilyn Manson instead of striking him down. To quote Robin Williams: "You think that every once in a while God gets stoned? Look at the platypus - I think so." (After all, there IS a line in the Catholic Mass that goes "You alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ.")Yes, like Kevin Smith, I myself am a Catholic. Not a devout one, but still one that goes to church every Sunday (or Saturday evening). And contrary to what the Catholic League would want you to believe, God's not gonna smite Kevin (or Jen or Harley for that matter) for turning out Dogma. From the day of the Chasing Amy preview in Denton, Texas, when he said that Dogma would be "a spoof on Catholicism", I was quite curious and intrigued as to what he'd conjure up.
And, saints alive, did he ever conjure up a good one. Dogma is jam-packed with action, suspense, and laughs aplenty. Not to mention a generous portion of his trademark Jersey freakazoids, Jay and Silent Bob. That's right, the Tokesome Twosome are no longer supporting characters... they're smack-dab in the spotlight, joining a Planned Parenthood worker named Bethany (Linda Fiorentino) on a bizarre mission thrust upon her by an agent of God, Metatron (Alan Rickman).
Her mission: prevent two renegade angels, Loki (Matt Damon) and Bartleby (Ben Affleck), from reaching a church party in New Jersey and passing under an archway that's supposed to automatically wipe their souls free of sin, no matter how mortal, and return triumphantly to Heaven. The problem is this: God banished them to Wisconsin after Loki, in a drunken stupor, pissed Him off. And having them go back to Heaven scot-free would prove that God is fallible. And that would cause the world, the universe, all of existence to collapse into nothingness. I know the premise is quite convoluted, but all you really have to remember is that the fallen angels have to be stopped from utilizing the special archway.
Joining Bethany, Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Mr. Smith himself) on their quest are Rufus (Chris Rock), the "Thirteenth Apostle" erased from the Bible because of his ethnicity, and Serendipity (Salma Hayek), a Muse who is biding her time in a strip club. We learn things about the heavenly hierarchy that would definitely rub fundamentalists the wrong way: Jesus was black. God is female. Mary and Joseph had sex. (There's Scripture in the Bible to back this last one up, by the way.) And it turns out Bethany has a geneological connection to the Messiah himself.
All this and Kevin's familiar quirks: Besides the usual involvement of Jay and Bob, he's got his buds playing bit parts (Brian O'Halloran, Jeff Anderson, Jason Lee and Ethan Suplee to name a few), his wonderful blend of intellectual and scatological humor, and yes, a reference or two to Star Wars. Distinguishing this from his previous works is the extensive insight to the more odd aspects of the Catholic faith, more big-name stars involved (look for appearances by Janeane Garofalo, George Carlin and Alanis Morrisette), and a fair amount of blood and gore. Keep in mind that this IS a comedy rather than a horror film... the violence here is played mainly for laughs.
Dogma is indeed the funniest film this season, if not the year, and definitely the most irreverent film since Life of Brian. There would be even more laughs if Smith thought the film would be marketable at the original three-hour (!) running time, but if The Kev has his way, the director's cut may well end up on the DVD version.At any rate, see it, and give your spirituality a good-natured ribbing.
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link directly to this review at http://efilmcritic.com/review.php?movie=172&reviewer=9 originally posted: 11/13/99 19:57:34
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This film is available for download or online viewing at CinemaNow.com For more in the CinemaNow.com series, click here.
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USA 12-Nov-1999 (R) DVD: 26-Jun-2001
UK N/A
Australia 02-Feb-2000 (R)
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