God According to Silent Bob

Kevin Smith is a comedic genius. He is not a clean or proper genius, but neither were any of the others who have made claim to the title. Instead, he takes a mundane situation and turns it into a brilliantly funny movie, as he has done three times previously with Clerks, Mallrats and Chasing Amy. His humor is coarse, his humor takes getting used to – and most of all, his humor is intelligent, which is why so many people often find it less than funny.

Dogma raises the level of his work to a whole new strata. Whereas his first three movies followed the same basic characters through a 3-part serial in which many of the characters (and actors) were woven into a complex tapestry of several New Jersey towns, Dogma is the first to set out on its own. Not that it doesn’t have ties to the previous three movies – indeed, it does and they are plentiful, if you know where to look.

Smith decides to target something new in general in this satire of organized religions. Whereas before, it was the banalities of existence in small-town New Jersey (touching on a QuickMart, the Mall and lesbianism and relationships, respectively), this time he is tackling a much more controversial subject. He pulls it off brilliantly. Further, he knows that this is a touchy subject and makes a tongue-in-cheek plea to take his movie with a grain of salt before the credits role. This is Kevin Smith, humorist, at work (platypi be damned).

But what about the movie? Well, I don’t want to give the whole thing away but I guess I can let you in on the gist of it. First of all, Silent Bob and Jay are back. And somehow they have become guardians of Bethany (Linda Fiorentino), the last scion. In some sort of heavenly joke, these two are destined to protect her from the multiple cosmic machinations from a variety of fronts.

To begin with, two angels (Ben Affleck and Matt Damon) are trying to get back into heaven, as they have been for millienia. Bartleby (Affleck) is the more mild-mannered of the two, and the reason that Loki (Damon) – the former Angel of Death – has been kicked out. More specifically, Bartleby made Loki question whether the plagues were morally right, and the Holy Father ain’t one to take his rules questioned. So, they were banished to Earth to wander until the end of eternity. Not that they aren’t having a time of it, but really, they’d rather be in Paradise, all things considered.

Luckily for them, Bartleby has found a loophole in Catholic Dogma which will allow them to return to Heaven. But if they do so, they prove God fallible and the universe ends. So, the forces of Heaven are set about to stop this – with Fiorentino’s help. Originally enlisted by Metatron, the Voice of God (played brilliantly by the droll Alan Rickman), she gets help from Jay and Silent Bob, as well as guidance from Rufus, the 13th Apostle (Chris Rock). Rock plays this role to the hilt and has some of the best lines in the movie. Besides pretty much shaking the foundations of all of Catholic Bethany’s faith, he also seems to delight in trying to rewrite the biblical history.

The group’s travels are ridiculously intertwined with other members of the Holy Family as they work their way from Indiana to New Jersey in a race against the angry and eager Angels. These two are not the friendly cherubs you are used to, however. Along the way, they decide to stop in to take care of a little business with a company who has seemed to created an idol above God (if you don’t figure it out while watching the movie, then shame on you).

So, in a race where they don’t even know all of the rules, the team meets up with a former Muse, Serendipity (Salma Hayek), and run into a trio of evil hockey punks, a sh!t monster (this is probably the one low-light of the movie, although its ‘death’ is moderately humorous) and finally reach the Promised Land – New Jersey (I can’t believe I actually just said that...). Then it is the final confrontation with some surprising results...

The film lampoons organized religion marvelously, from the Catholic spokesman (George Carlin, of all people) to the basic tenets that most Christians hold dear. Smith does a brilliant job of addressing these stalwart beliefs and making one question their mindless devotion, if nothing else. Rufus usually plays the role of the informant of Heavenly revelations.

Rufus:What He really hates is the sh!t that gets carried out in his name. Wars. Bigotry. Televangelism.
Bethany: You knew Jesus?
Rufus: Knew him?!? [Brother] owes me twelve bucks!

-- and --

Rufus: You people don't celebrate your faith; you mourn it.

Suffice it to say that you really need to take this movie with a grain of salt if you are religious. If you can do that, you will find his insights and opinions absolutely hilarious. He challenges again and again long-held beliefs, if for not other reason than to make a viewer think about their religion and the ‘gospel’ of how it is taught to be believed absolutely. Personally, I loved this because I enjoy seeing organized religion getting shaken up.

Rufus: Organized religion destroys who we are or who we can be by inhibiting our actions and decisions out of fear of an intangible parent-figure who shakes a finger at us from thousands of years ago and says "No, no!"

Like all of his films since Clerks, there are a ton of little jokes that you have to watch out for. Most predominant are the references to his original trilogy, although these are more cleverly hidden than in past movies. For example, Ben Affleck has now been in three of Kevin Smith’s films (only missing Clerks), and Bryan O’Halloran plays GRANT HICKS – obviously related to DANTE Hicks’ from Clerks. In fact, almost all of the players from Clerks make an appearance here. These little parts give those who know the trilogy an extra thrill and a few extra laughs at the inside jokes. Oh, and yes, there is a Star Wars reference (again).

Kevin Smith doesn’t shy away from the controversy in this film but uses amusing and relatively painless ways to bring up a point, drive it home and let the viewer reflect on what he is trying to say. He never preaches (supposedly, he is an avid Christian), but makes one think and struggle against the neatly passed down stories on what exactly religion is. I think he did a brilliant job, creating a masterpiece of humor. I’m personally waiting for the Deluxe Edition of the DVD around Xmas, so that I can partake of the extra scenes and such. But if you can – get out there and find yourself a copy to enjoy before that.

Oh, and a parting thought:

Bethany: Sex is a joke in heaven?
Metatron: The way I understand it, it's mostly a joke down here, too.