Review of Dogma (1999) by Graham P — 27 Jun 2010

Sometimes clever and often quite funny Kevin Smith religion-themed comedy that is a partial missfire due to the fact that it tries just a little bit too hard to come over as hip, alternative and subversive. Whilst tackling some of the absurdities of the Catholic church with humour should be a fairly straightforward task - indeed, the Monty Python team nailed the target with nearly every gag in Life of Brian - Smith tries to marry comedy with a dramatic storyline concerning fallen angels attempting to bring about the end of the world; and the resultant plotline suffers from awkward tonal shifts that can frustrate a discerning viewer.

The cast pull together pretty well, and performances are generally more than adequate (even Ben Affleck is not half bad in this), but Smith's narrative is overwritten and in dire need of a trim. This leads to character's reeling off long streams of dialogue and this in turn results in some of the verbal comedy feeling somewhat forced. Some of the physical humour comes off as somewhat pureile as well; in particular the scene where a demon made of excrement appears and is defeated by an air freshener: a schoolboy joke at best really.

Dogma is essentially a film that is enjoyable enough if you don't over-analyse it really; but here in lies a problem. Smith obviously wants to make some points here, generally concerning the nature of faith and how God - as he sees it anyway - should be seen as a benevolent entity and not a vengeful, controlling deity. All the good characters in the film are essentially easy going Liberal and libertarian types (the main character is a pro-choice doctor working in an abortion clinic). Smith wears his left wing credentials on his sleeve and makes every effort to portray them in his character's dialogue. The problem is that we are force fed these views in the often rambling monologues these characters deliver. Smith comes on too strong and the film comes across as rather preachy at times.

So if you watch the film just for straight up entertainment, you might well have a great time - but it aims to be more than that. It aims to get the director's message across. Whilst this message is very clear, the manner in which it is put across is often crude and rather forced. Kevin Smith manages comedy a lot better than he manages drama it would seem - when he's not get carried away by self-perceived cleverness of his own writing.