Dogma Review
by Stephen Jones (lisgj AT LIB DOT TTU DOT EDU)November 22nd, 1999
Dogma: losing my religion
Angels in the movies are nothing new. From Wings of Desire to A Life Less Ordinary. Similarly, the idea of Earth as a battlefield is older than Milton, and has been done as well (Prophecy I & II, etc). God's even taken mortal (comic) form before, as George Burns. However, never before has George Carlin been a cardinal, Chris Roc the 13th apostle, Selma Hayek an exotic-dancing muse. Religion on the big screen's always been a little too orthodox for that. As in sacred. As in be careful, Salman Rushdie. With Dogma, Kevin Smith is more than just not careful, he's irreverent, glib, interpreting the (Catholic) Church through, say, Ghostbusters. Meaning Jesus Christ becomes 'J.C.' Prophets speak with profane tongues. Nuns are corruptible. Angels carry guns and aren't at all reluctant to use them. In fact, the one stable role in Dogma is Janeane Garofalo, the slightly bitter abortion clinic employee. She's the only one not crusading, the only one without holy import.
However--though roles like this were practically made for her--Jeanine Garofalo's not the 'doubting hero' that just about every religious movie needs to 'convert,' (where conversion stands in for character development) but Linda Fiorentino is, as Bethany, which continues the longstanding religious thriller tradition (Seventh Sign, Stigmata, etc) of having a single women save the world. Kind of like an anti-Eve, just one who turns fire extinguishers on burning, talking bushes. But who in the 20th century wouldn't, right? This type commentary constitutes a large part of Dogma--the lingering suspicion that religious iconography hasn't kept up with the times. As Cardinal Carlin says, it's time for some revamping; as Nietzsche might say, though, 'vamp' in that context means already dead. Dogma tosses all of this around and more.
It all starts when two exiled angels--Loki (the Norse trickster?; Matt Damon) and Bartleby (as in the Scrivener; Ben Affleck)--discover they can go home again, via a biblical loophole in the garden state itself, New Jersey. So now they have four days left to kill, literally, on Earth. The thing is, though, if they do sneak back into heaven, it'll show that God (AWOL for 98% of Dogma) isn't quite as infallible as s/he claims to be, and we can't have that. Meaning his/her crack staff has to mobilize against Loki and Bartleby, whose Swedenborgian hostility towards mortals is getting a tad out of hand (see: office massacre, etc). Thus starts all the divine warfare, interspersed with what turns out to be some rational theological discussions. But then Kevin Smith's strong suit has always been dialogue.
If only he would have stuck to dialogue, too, Dogma would have been a much stronger movie. As is, it feels effects-laden at times, (e.g., an unnecessary fecal golem, etc) and all the delays in getting to the battle scene in New Jersey feel forced, contrived--as if it's all been extended simply to allow these top-billed stars a few more trailer-worthy scenes. Surprisingly, too, a few of the jokes fall embarrassingly flat, even one of Silent Bob's (Kevin Smith). And, unlike his compadre Jay, (Jason Mewes) he's supposed to only talk when it really matters. They are dramatically written in this time, though, so perhaps the occasional dead line is part of the package.
In Dogma's favor, it is loud, fast and funny, it all just goes a little long, tries to work in a few too many jokes, when less would have been more. Compared to Clerks and Chasing Amy, Dogma is sub-par Kevin Smith. Or, Kevin Smith with a real budget, no longer having to innovate. On its own, though, it's still better than two-thirds of the movies out there, and has enough in-stuff going on (Quick Stop, Dante, etc) that die-hard Kevin Smith fans won't go away feeling cheated. In case you're not a Kevin Smith acolyte, though, there's still the guiltysweet transgression ('hellworthy trespass,' in Dogma-terms) of seeing 'God' in lowercase, in the credits, of hearing angels swear, of dressing George Carlin up in robes, any of which make Dogma just about worth the price of admission.
(c) 1999 Stephen Graham Jones, http://www.cinemuck.com
Originally posted in the rec.arts.movies.reviews newsgroup. Copyright belongs to original author unless otherwise stated. We take no responsibilities nor do we endorse the contents of this review.
