Even God goes on holiday.... (Dogma (DVD))

Member Name: drewboy

Product:	Dogma (DVD)
Date:	26/01/05 (93 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Script, Cast, Direction/Storyline

Disadvantages: Salma Hayek (only a wee bit though)

Regardless of the consequences, what would you do if you were handed a scrap of paper telling you about the loophole that has presented itself so that you, and your banished mate, can return to heaven? After thousands of years stuck on Earth, Bartleby and Loki find themselves in this position and grab it with both hands. Of course, the fallen angel of death sees this as the perfect opportunity to go on a killing spree, but after that, they are on there way.

However, the powers that be in Heaven get wind of this and are not at all happy. As the two angels were banished from Heaven on God’s decree for not carrying out their duties (which in turn meant Angels were unable to get drunk!), if they were to get back in with this loophole (kindly donated by the Catholic Church) then Gods word would have been overthrown, and existence would cease to be!

So, with God on vacation and unable to be contacted, Metatron (the voice of God), turns to the only person he can think of – the last Scion. Unfortunately, Bethany (as the scion is otherwise known), has still not forgiven God for the damage to her uterus and the break up of her marriage and is in fact, questioning her faith. So it takes him some time to even half convince her and set her on her way. On this journey she encounters many different characters to help her, some that she cannot believe are able to help her and some that she just cannot believe!

However, the sender of the note to Bartleby and Loki has other plans, and is hell bent on stopping Bethany and her motley crew from wrecking his plans which have taken him centuries to put into place…..


I cannot praise this film enough. For me, it is one of the best, and most original plots for a movie I have ever seen. Written and directed by Kevin Smith (Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back) the story revolves around catholic dogma and how today’s faith has become what it is. He masterfully uses the old and new testament to his advantage and produced a masterpiece of modern day interpretation that not only makes for a good film, but actually makes sense if you pay attention closely enough. His script is highly intelligent and very fast moving using catholic dogma to its full while presenting it in today’s language. I for one actually learned stuff about the Catholic faith while watching it, it is that good.

The characters he uses for this are all very well put together and have their own place in the story in such a way that they are all indispensable to the plot and all add greatly to how the story moves on. Never dragging on in any part, the script is full of intricate twists that are essential to keeping it true to the subject matter, yet he manages to explain them all fully without this pace slowing. All this and it is chock full of hilarious lines and innuendo’s. His choice at making the saviour of existence a bitter woman who is in fact questioning her faith lets the film have a bit of credibility as having a religious person would have made it rather boring. Using Jay & Silent Bob (who are ANYTHING but religious) as profits allows a lot of humour and conveys how mysterious the will of God is meant to be. Bartleby and Loki are excellent characters who, while knowing that God exists, cannot hold back their contempt for the almighty. Yet seeing how they develop in different, and quite unexpected fashion throughout the film, adds greatly to the overall enjoyment.

The acting from the fantastic cast is second to none. Those who rubbish Ben Afflec and Matt Damon really should look this one up as they use their long standing friendship in real life to great effect as the two fallen Angels. They are passionate, funny, endearing in some ways, yet despicable in others. The dry wit of Allan Rickman as Metatron is spot on and even as a huge fan of the man, I think he outdid himself in the brief appearances he had in the picture. Jason Mews and Kevin Smith himself as Jay and Silent Bob, create the perfect juxtaposition beside the morally wholesome Bethany with their hash smoking, bone anything that moves dialogue. Even though Kevin Smith has very few lines, he is the master of silence and the character gets a large percentage of the laughs. Other notable performances are from Chris Rock as the 13th apostle who is bitter about being left out of the Bible, Jason Lee as Azrael who created the whole mess in the first place and Salma Hayek who played a muse who left Heaven to find ideas for herself and then couldn’t find any! The only cast member I was disappointed with (though not by much) was Hayek. I felt she was a bit out of her depth with the calibre of people around her, and at times was unable to carry the humour her part was given.

There really are no major special effects to speak of, only the wings of each respective angel. While these were not of the highest quality and not in the least realistic, it just didn’t matter to the story as it is so strong. The sets, costumes and soundtrack were also adequate, yet hardly noticeable as Smiths direction of the actors and story was of such high quality, they were just there – the way a film should be in my opinion.

The DVD itself is rather week to be honest. All it really has (on the UK version) is the bog standard cast and crew interviews, which while interesting, are nothing new really (especially if you have any other Kevin Smith films as the same stuff is talked about). Then it has the trailers for the film. I personally dont understand why these are included as they don't add anything to the film at all. Why would you want to watch a trailer for a film you have just watched?! As far as I have heard, the US DVD is a lot better so if you are an extra's fan, it may be worth trying to get one of those.

To conclude, I say again that I cannot recommend this film enough. At the time of release, it was heavily criticised for having a go at the Catholic Church however I suspect those criticising, didn’t watch it close enough to see that while it may have been having a pop at organised religion as a whole, it was not specifically the catholic church. And at the end of the day, religion itself was put across in a very good light. And on top of that, it’s a bloody good film!

Get a hold of a copy!


drew


Cast List (imdb.com)

Matt Damon .... Loki
Ben Affleck .... Bartleby
Linda Fiorentino Bethany Sloane
Janeane Garofalo .... Liz
Jason Lee .... Azrael
Alan Rickman .... Metatron
Jason Mewes .... Jay
Kevin Smith .... Silent Bob
Chris Rock .... Rufus
Salma Hayek .... Serendipity
Alanis Morissette .... God

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