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New Century of Cinema
DOWSE Guide to the
Movies
by Tony Lee editor of
Pigasus
Press
Dogma
91 minutes (15) FilmFour
Director: Kevin Smith
review by Steven Hampton
Certainly one of the most generically mixed up films I have ever
seen, this lamely whimsical comedy fantasy is too confused to satisfy even the most
undemanding viewer. It fails miserably as biblical apocalypse, road movie,
counterculture satire and - whatever! The familiar characters of Jay and silent Bob
from this director's earlier slacker movies like Clerks (which I've not seen)
and Mallrats (which I did see, and found wanting) seem wholly out of place
here, consigned to merely non-participant spectatorship at worst, clumsy interlopers
in the main, earnestly theological action, at best. A potentially great cast are
largely wasted as they stand firm spouting the vacuous dialogue (Alan Rickman is only
amusing as the voice of God until we realise he isn't going to go away), or go
running scared of ridiculous juvenilia, like the smelly and almost invulnerable shit
monster. If you can bear the thought of Ben Affleck as a fallen angel, American
comedian Chris Rock as a 13th apostle, Matt Damon as Loki (!) - did I mention how
confused Dogma is - and a mercy killing as the act that saves the world (oh,
irony!), this film is for you. But if it is, I think you need psychiatric help.
The women in the film, Linda Fiorentino and Salma Hayek, are given important,
pivotal roles in the plot. Yet, Hayek's muse is discovered performing in a strip
club, and Fiorentino suffers the indignity of a wet t-shirt scene that undermines any
dramatic value she tries to invest in her character's protests against God (finally
revealed as Alanis Morissette, ho-hum). So, pretty much a clear case of a project
that was in need of a script doctor, and a competent director, too.
Dogma
RATING:
8
After many years satirising American life, movies, and corner stores, Kevin Smith obviously
decided it was time for something on a larger scale - a positively cosmic scale, in fact. Two
angels cast out of heaven have just discovered a loophole in Catholic dogma that will let
them back in. Unfortunately, that would reverse the will of God, and the universe would cease
to exist. God has gone AWOL on a visit to Earth, so the world is in the hands of a lapsed
Catholic, the 13th apostle, a muse, and, erm, Jay and Silent Bob. We're in big trouble...
Reviewed by Ceri Jordan
Far from the blasphemous horror some have made it out to be, this is an
agreeable, warm-hearted film. That just happens to contain mass murder, excrement demons, and
Alanis Morissette. You may disagree with some of Smith's criticisms, or indeed, with the
film's woolly 'doesn't matter what you believe as long as you believe' philosophy, but its
heart is in the right place. The performances are all excellent, with Alan Rickman's
world-weary Voice of God a particular delight, and the Ben Affleck and Matt Damon double-act
on top form as the mismatched rebels. It's a taut, well-constructed comedy that topples your
preconceptions with gusto, and might even make you think now and then.
DVD extras: cast and crew interviews, two trailers plus TV spots.
previously published in VideoVista #23 - February 2001 issue
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