Dogma (1999)-"R"

Run Time:130 minutes

3 stars out of 4

Dogma (1999) is the newest film from Kevin Smith, director of Mallrats (1995), Chasing Amy (1997), and Clerks (1994), and like the others, is campy and quirky, to a certain extent. Most of the humor in those movies is slapstick, crude, and somewhat offensive sometimes, but personally, I think it's funny stuff, yet I know a lot of others who both do and do not share my views on his films. I think Dogma, however is his best film yet. The plot follows Loki (Matt Damon) and Bartleby (Ben Affleck) and their desperate attempts to return home to heaven. They are fallen angels, however, kicked out by God and doomed to an eternity in Wisconsin, to them, a fate worse than death. They plan to enter under a sin-cleansing arch, then promptly get killed to re-enter heaven sin-free. The only problem is that this act would be a reversal of God's awesome power, a loophole that would bring about a total Apocalypse, and bring about the end of existence. Obviously, this cannot happen, so a forgotten black apostle, Rufus (Chris Rock), two awkward prophets, Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith, the director) are sent to the last remaining descendant of Jesus, Bethany Sloane (Linda Fiorentino) to try and prevent the troublesome angels from ending existence as they (and we, supposedly) know it. This leads them on a wild voyage from McHenry, Illinois, to the sin-cleansing church in New Jersey. Along the way, the do-gooders meet Serendipity, who's a Muse working in a strip club (Salma Hayek), Azrael, an evil fallen angel (Jason Lee), a hell-demon made of criminal's feces, and God her/himself (Alanis Morissette). I thought the film was highly entertaining, with somewhat-crude-yet-funny jokes and a lively plot. I found it interesting how the film seemed to promote minorities and women in the Bible and in religion, what with announcing a black 13th Apostle, a black Jesus, and a God in the shape of a woman, while the bad guys were men, not women (i.e. Eve from the Bible). I also, of course enjoyed the presence of Jay and Silent Bob, the comical duo that are present in all of Smith's films. I did not, however, like Linda Fiorentino's performance. She may have been trying to fit into her role as a sarcastic person, but she came across as uninterested in the film and unlively. Anyway, I'm sure a lot of people considered this film to be offensive and rather violent, but if you approach it in an open-minded way and don't take the jokes seriously, you shouldn't have too many problems with it. I honestly enjoyed it, and I think most other people will too, if they can get over the crudeness and somewhat predictable plot.