Would you believe that the last living descendent of Jesus Christ is a woman working at an abortion clinic in Illinois? And that she's been sent on a holy mission with two minor characters from Clerks and Mallrats as her guides? Prepare to suspend any and all disbelief as you watch the religious satire Dogma, the fourth film from writer/director Kevin Smith. Bethany (Linda Fiorentino) has been disappointed in life and has found her faith severely tested after her husband leaves her when she discovers she cannot have ...
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Would you believe that the last living descendent of Jesus Christ is a woman working at an abortion clinic in Illinois? And that she's been sent on a holy mission with two minor characters from Clerks and Mallrats as her guides? Prepare to suspend any and all disbelief as you watch the religious satire Dogma, the fourth film from writer/director Kevin Smith. Bethany (Linda Fiorentino) has been disappointed in life and has found her faith severely tested after her husband leaves her when she discovers she cannot have children. So Bethany is all the more puzzled when she's approached by Metatron (Alan Rickman), a grumpy angel. Metatron wants her to help him stop Bartleby (Ben Affleck) and Loki (Matt Damon), two fallen angels who were ejected from paradise, have escaped from exile and are heading to New Jersey. If they are able to pass through the arc of a certain church, it will prove God is fallible and the world will come to a swift end. Bethany has no idea what to do or why she's been given this project, but she heads out anyway, with her assigned assistants Jay (Jason Mewes), an appallingly rude former dope dealer and self-styled ladies man, and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith). Along the way, Bethany picks up more helpers, including a celestial muse named Serendipity (Salma Hayek) and Rufus (Chris Rock), who claims to have been the 13th apostle and that Jesus owes him 12 dollars. Boasting a huge supporting cast -- including George Carlin, Jason Lee, Janeane Garofalo, Bud Cort, and Alanis Morissette (as God) -- Dogma proved to be highly controversial even before its release. Miramax Pictures, owned by Disney, financed the film, but several weeks before Dogma's world premier at the Cannes Film Festival, they announced they would not release the picture and intended to sell it to another distributor (which would turn out to be Lions Gate Films). Director Smith, however, has always contended that Dogma is a film about the importance of faith, if not organized religion. Mark Deming, Rovi
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TITLE: Dogma
GENRE: Theological fantasy filled with comedy and adventure
CAST: Alanis Morissette (God must have top Billing), Linda Fiorentino, Alan Rickman, Salma Hayek, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Chris Rock, Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith, Richard Carlin and Jason Lee
PLOT: Full of background information on the hierarchy of Heaven this film explores the plight of two Disowned (not condemned) angels and their attempt to use twists of logic to justify getting back to being in God's good graces.Everyone fears that if they succeed, it will mean the end of all existence and therefore do what it takes to stop their redemption.
RETURN ON INVESTMENT: 9.2 of 10; Even if you don't follow the Theories of Roman Catholic Faith, you can follow the events of this movie. Kevin Smith, as writer and director has put together a masterwork. He makes it all seem important when you know the whole point of it is to say how rediculous some of the beliefs are.
DVD BONUS: A theatrical trailer and some selected history and filmographies of some of the players.
ADDED NOTES: Affleck and Damon at their best as cohorts here! Silent Bob speaks (twice!). Rock owns the thirteenth Apostle persona, the 'overlooked because I'm Black' one. God loves Skeeball. Can some one please make me a Holy Bartender?
cali
Sep 25, 2008
Not a movie for a religious fanatic
The new generations need to express their way of perceiving their reality. This movie has in a less than serious plot a way of explaining the severity of Dogma. Faith is important but love surpasses it all. A pair of fallen angels just wants to go home. They find a way back to heaven; the down side is that by doing that, the universe will be no more. It?s up to a group of unlikely characters to prevent it. The ironic twist is that all of them like each other in a certain way and God loves them all. A must see for any one really interested in human frailty and the conception of a Holy Roman Catholic Church. Just see it for what it is, a comedy.