Dogma is writer/director Kevin Smith's fourth project and his most intelligent work to date (but alas not his greatest). It's basically a religious-comedy-road movie as Bethany (Linda Fiorentino) is instructed by the Metatron (God's spokesperson) to stop two renegade angels (Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, reunited again) from crossing the threshold of a Catholic church, thus creating a religious loophole which will destroy the whole of existence.
It's perhaps not Smith's most hilarious offering but it has the most to say, causing a healthy dose of controversy in the States, on its release. Dogma is a little long winded and rambling but is balanced out by some sharp characters, memorable banter with the entire cast putting their heart and soul into it. Damon and Affleck show great chemistry as the angels on a mission, with Alan Rickman, Chris Rock, Jason Lee and an almost indecipherable Salma Hayek giving the religion-bashing a touch of class. Smith's masterstroke is to cast singer Alanis Morrisete as God, playing it with all the innocence of a child in adult form.
The satire isn't aimed at faith, but rather the religious organisations that pimp faith to the masses, with Catholicism being the target. Some interesting issues are raised such as the missing 18 years of Jesus's life from The Bible (because he had brothers and sisters), that Jesus was a black man and that God is a bit of a wrathful bastard actually. Essentially, it argues that Man has corrupted belief in God to meet his own ends and purposes and that that to hold to a idea about faith is better to believe in a faith, because an idea is open to change. And that's a surprisingly full, intellectual meal from a movie that contains enough pratfalls, swearing and nob gags to fill three American Pie movies.
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