Review of Dogma (1999) by Chris W — 18 Aug 2010

Along with "The Last Temptation of Christ", this just may be the best film about Catholicism specifically, and religion and faith in general.

This is a comedy, and it's a satire, but it's got some really good and seriosu discusiions going on as well. The big issue I think a lot of people have with this movie is that they can't take a joke, and can't accept that it's just a movie- even if it does deal with some real issues. Being a Catholic, Smith is a great choice for writer/director since he knows what stuff to make fun of, and how to do it correctly, even if it involves some exaggeration and some fantasy here and there. Being Catholic myself, I can definiely relate to this movie, and that's why I like it. I'm not offended by it. Honestly, I don't know why a lot of Catholcis were so upset about this. My feeling is, is you can't poke fun at your beliefs once in a while, what's the point in having them to begin with?

The perforances are great, and it's just ironically awesome to see George Carlin playing a cardinal. The choice of having Alanis Morisette play God is an inspired one, Rock is hilarious as the ignored apostle, and Fiorentino is excellent as the conflicted Catholic going through a crisis of faith who gets tapped to go on a mission of grave importance, despite the fact that she feels God is dead, works in an abortion clinic, yet still goes to church, even if she mainly goes just to get her checkbook balanced.

All of the writing is great, whether it's the funny stuff, or the joke-free theological discussions. The general concept of the film is also a fun an interesting one, and yes, to an extent (for those that doen't know), the Church does traditionally feel that God is infallible, so, in a weirds way, the basic premise of the film theoretically would work if you belief in such things.

I didn't mention all of the casting and acting, but needless to say, it's all pretty damn strong. I can maybe understand how some of this moie might be a tad offensive, but then again, it also features a rubber shit demon, and it seems weird to me that something like that could anger people.

I seriously wish my dad could take a joke and get over his hangups, because I think he'd probably get a lot out of this if just just sat down and tried to give it a chance. That also goes for the rest of you who may have some reason for avoiding this.