Dogma

Dogma
November 12, 1999
View Askew
Comedy, Horror, Fantasy
DVD
C+

I said of Chasing Amy that it was a weaker film than Clerks, in part because it attempted more.  Well, this entry, which Kevin Smith spent years on, attempts even more, no less than an examination of Christianity, specifically Catholicism, but with, yes, a comedy/horror/fantasy slant.  And it just doesn't work.  It's not without interest and it does have some nice cameos, notably Janeane Garofalo as Liz and George Carlin as Cardinal Glick, but the leads are too given to speechifying, and mixing this with jokes about shit and acts of bloody slaughter does not help.  The best of the major characters is Jason Lee as Azrael.  Yes, he's doing his Banky thing, but it works for an annoyed demon.  Alan Rickman, as Metratron (the Voice of God) looks like he'd rather be somewhere else, and I can't tell how much of this is just the character and how much of it is Rickman.  (He is well cast though in the sense that in the following decade his voice would sway a fandom.)  It's always nice to see Bud Cort, but the plot renders him immobile for most of the movie.  Ben Affleck as Bartleby and Matt Damon as Loki, yes, once again besties playing besties, speechify and commit the aforementioned acts of bloody slaughter.  And Kevin Smith manages to pull a Thalberg on himself and "hetero life-mate" Jason Mewes, since Jay and Silent Bob are supposed to be heroes in this one, while still being low-lifes.  In fact, there are scenes where Bob is so MGM-Harpo-ized that he starts communicating in pantomime (though he can actually talk in this and other movies).

Verdict: I'm unlikely to buy any more K. Smith movies, but if someone gave me one, I'd probably keep it.

Among the View Askew regulars are Dwight Ewell (Kane), Walter Flanagan (Protestor #2), John Launder (Priest with Buddy Christ #1), Kimberly Loughran (Woman in Elevator), Scott Mosier (Smooching Seaman), Ernest O'Donnell (Reporter), Vincent Pereira (unknown character), Ethan Suplee (Voice of Noman), Guinevere Turner (Bus Station Attendant).  Also Jeff Anderson and Brian O'Halloran, Randal and Dante of Clerks, here play respectively Gun Salesman and Grant Hicks.  Joe Shelby, who was a doctor in Bob Roberts, is a Bus Rider here.

So, wait, you're smart enough to cast me and then you drop me from the rest of the movie?