Lost Reivews #2

Dogma (1999)
Kevin Smith

--I've never claimed to be much of a Kevin Smith fan however that opinion is not at all based on my opinion of Dogma. While I can't remember if or why I liked it... something tells me that I did.--

Dogma makes a very clever and funny mockery of the Christian faith, mostly the Roman Catholic denomination. Theology is taken as literal as possible in order to make an entertaining story blend well with a random array of characters. Bethany Stone (Linda Fiorentino, in what is not one of her better performances)is raised Catholic who now questions her faith as she leads a very routine and mundane life at an abortion clinic. She is given the task to stop misguided angels, Loki and Bartelby (Matt Damon and Ben Affleck) from entering a church thus having their sins forgiven and all of existence abolished. Bethany is assisted by Jay and Silent Bob, Rufus (Chris Rock) and Serendipity (Salma Hayek). All of these characters have their own outlook and opinions of God and the Bible. Theology is jam packed into this movie in a very clever way, however, it is jam packed to the extent that it becomes repetitive and uninteresting and the humor of it all ends very quickly. Overall, this is a good movie, one of Kevin Smith's best. A smart story that is very well written makes up for the poor acting throughout by a majority of the cast.
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06/01/05