Dogma (Spanish)

Buy This Item Dogma (Spanish) by Sony Pictures  Available from Amazon  $9.98  on 11-29-2008     Kevin Smith is a conundrum of a filmmaker: he's a writer with brilliant, clever ideas who can't set up a simple shot to save his life. It was fine back when Smith was making low-budget films like <I>Clerks</I> and <I>Chasing Amy</I>, both of which had an amiable, grungy feel to them, but now that he's a rising director who's attracting top talent and tackling bigger themes, it might behoove him to polish his filmmaking. That's the main problem with <I>Dogma</I>--it's an ambitious, funny, aggressively intelligent film about modern-day religion, but while Smith's writing has matured significantly (anyone who thinks he's not topnotch should take a look at <I>Chasing Amy</I>), his direction hasn't. It's too bad, because <I>Dogma</I> is ripe for near-classic status in its theological satire, which is hardly as blasphemous as the protests that greeted the movie would lead you to believe. <p> Two banished angels (Ben Affleck and Matt Damon) have discovered a loophole that would allow them back into heaven; problem is, they'd destroy civilization in the process by proving God fallible. It's up to Bethany (Linda Fiorentino), a lapsed Catholic who works in an abortion clinic, to save the day, with some help from two so-called prophets (Smith and Jason Mewes, as their perennial characters Jay and Silent Bob), the heretofore unknown 13th apostle (Chris Rock), and a sexy, heavenly muse (the sublime Salma Hayek, who almost single-handedly steals the film). In some ways <I>Dogma</I> is a shaggy dog of a road movie--which hits a comic peak when Affleck and Fiorentino banter drunkenly on a train to New Jersey, not realizing they're mortal enemies--and segues into a comedy-action flick as the vengeful angels (who have a taste for blood) try to make their way into heaven. Smith's cast is exceptional--with Fiorentino lending a sardonic gravity to the proceedings, and Jason Lee smirking evilly as the horned devil Azrael--and the film shuffles good-naturedly to its climax (featuring Alanis Morissette as a beatifically silent God), but it just looks so unrelentingly <I>subpar</I>. Credit Smith with being a daring writer but a less-than-stellar director. <I>--Mark Englehart</I> Reader Reviews I found DOGMA to be such a monumental waste of time that it set a real precedent in my life for a wasted evening. As someone who can enjoy almost any well-intentioned movie this film was a total waste of time, energy and resources. Since I am a lifelong confirmed horror and sci-fi fan I am not the least "high brow", nor do I hold any strong opinions regarding organized religion. (How could I? Every film I claim to like is either banned or condemned by many formal religious groups and organizations). I also would not consider myself to be prudish in any way and irreverence towards organized religion has never bothered me enough to spoil a good film. When I went to the theater to see DOGMA I was on vacation with my wife and a trusted friend recommended that we see this film. The party in question shall remain nameless, but after seeing this movie I questioned his sincerity and certainly his advice from that day on. We also were not able to see the very excellent GREEN MILE which was also playing, and I suppose I am sore about that. By the way, recommending a film to a party of four individuals who had other first choices for the evening is a responsibility that I take very seriously. I am also dismayed at the number of approving votes this film received. It would appear that the producer, director or some of the actors must be members of a large "family" (or some other organization) who have a vested interest in this film. I simply can't believe the outcome of the Amazon statistics. Someone has been stuffing the ballot box!

Dogma (Spanish) Available from Amazon Price: $9.98 Updated on 11-29-2008.

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