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Starring Linda Fiorentino, Chris Rock, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Salma Hayek, Alan Rickman,
George Carlin, Janeane Garafalo, Jason Lee, Jason Mews, Kevin Smith, Bud Cort, Alanis Morrisette.
Directed by Kevin Smith.
Two fallen angels (Affleck and Damon) have been banished to Wisconsin by God after they refused to follow her commands. They receive a newspaper clipping which suggests a loophole that might allow them back into heaven. An opportunistic cardinal Glick (Carlin) from New Jersey is dedicating a temple based on an obscure Catholic doctrine that those who pass through its doors will have their sins forgiven. These two angels figure they can pass through the doors, all will be forgiven, and they will return to heaven. But there's a problem. The Voice of God (Rickman) makes an appearance in the bedroom of a Catholic abortion-clinic worker Bethany (Fiorentino) and attempts to enlist her to stop these angels, because if they succeed it will mean God (Morrisette) is not infallible, and the universe will cease to exist, unless Bethany can stop them. She is saved from some hockey-stick waving thugs by two punks (Mewes and Smith) who would rather have sex with Bethany than help her save the world. Along the way, out of the sky falls the 13th Apostle (Rock), who was written out of the bible because he is black. They show up at a strip joint and meet the muse Serendipity (Hayek), and then all four join Bethany on their quest to stop the fallen angels. Will they succeed? Already controversial and consistently protested by Roman Catholic protesters, Dogma is primarily a farce instead of a satire. While there are some funny lines and interesting moments, the movie concentrates on heavy doses of swearing, a fixation on sex and seediness, and long-winded speeches by characters explaining biblical history or trying to make a point. But their point is often lost, and the satire does not score sufficiently enough. Much of what is happening is done to shock, not to enlighten or make a strong point about Catholicism and religious faith. The first half is stronger than the second, with more jokes, and the non-stop swearing hadn't yet become annoying. And the story still made some sense. Some good lines slipped in, such as "You people don't celebrate your faith, you mourn it." While the cast is quite good, their success with the material is varied. Carlin is hilarious whenever he appears - his initial unveiling of "Buddy" Jesus is very funny. Garafalo is her usual biting self in a very brief role. Rickman is largely successful with his world-weary Voice of God, delivering not always strong material with his usual style. Mewes might have been funnier, if every second word of his was not a swear word, and every second line not an increasingly boring reference to him getting sex with Bethany. Rock, Hayek, Damon, Affleck and Lee all have their moments, but occasionally have difficulty convincingly delivering long, drawn out speeches about obscure biblical mythology. Fiorentino for my tastes plays it a bit too cool and understated, although she may have done so just to conteract the craziness of the rest of what's going on. The appearance of Morrisette is poorly handled. Her silly grin notwithstanding, she's given nothing to do, as if Smith and the writers had no idea what God should be like when she appears in mortal form. And the shit monster - stupid, unfunny and wholly unnecessary for the story. This would rate as a disappointment.  
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