"God? Lonely. But funny. He's got a great sense of humor. Take sex for example. There's nothing funnier than the ridiculous faces you people make mid-coitus."-Metatron
Religion is one of the topics that is rarely talked about. People get so intense and angry when an opinion differs from theirs that even in the most comfortable of settings, a light hearted conversation can ruin friendships, families, and marriages. Thankfully, the world has movie writer Kevin Smith to make light of an otherwise extremely serious topic.
"Dogma" is comedy written by Kevin Smith (Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy) that came out in 1999 and still holds up to this day. The movie revolves around Bethany (Linda Fiorentino) a woman working at an abortion clinic who has lost her faith in God. She actually goes as far to say that she thinks God might be dead. One night, she's visited by the Metatron (voice of God), who is played by Alan Rickman (Snape from "Harry Potter" and Hans Gruber from the original "Die Hard") who is to charge her with going to a church in New Jersey and stopping two angels (Matt Damon and Ben Affleck) from getting into the church thus negating all of existence. Loki and Bartleby, the two angels, were kicked out of Heaven for flipping off God. There is more to the story, but it is better if some things should not be spoiled for you.
On her trip, Bethany is joined by two prophets (Jay and Silent Bob) and the 13th apostle Rufus who is played by Chris Rock. Lastly, a demon played by Jason Lee set this all up to begin with. He says that absolute nothingness is better than being in hell.
What makes this movie so great is the combination of brilliant comedy and profound words. One thing that always stands out is the scene where Bethany is screaming at God when the Metatron comes down and is completely honest with her about how much he hates his job at times and how it hurts even God.
Metatron explains that it hurt God knowing that he could not talk to his own son because his voice would kill him. And Metatron knew it was unfair for Jesus to go his whole life knowing that he would one day be killed and tortured by the people he loves. There is also a scene with Ben Affleck when he has somewhat of a nervous breakdown after feeling mistreated by God. A rant we can all relate to when it comes to our current or previous jobs.
While some of the acting is superb, some of it is horrible and cheesy. The comedy and story more than make up for that acting. This is a great movie to sit around with some friends and enjoy some laughs.
Acting: 6 out of 10 (average)
Comedy: 10 out of 10 (flawless and creative)
Story: 9 out of ten (not predictable and deeper than expected)
Overall: 8.3 out of 10
