Dogma

Released 1999
Stars Linda Fiorentino, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Alan Rickman, Chris Rock, Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith, George Carlin, Salma Hayek, Jason Lee, Bud Cort, Alanis Morissette
Directed by Kevin Smith

This is by far my favorite of Kevin Smith's first four movies, and I think it's brilliant. One reason it's my favorite is because it's his first movie where the characters don't speak in soliloquies. I enjoyed his dialogue in "Clerks" and "Chasing Amy," but it never sounded natural because they all took turns giving speeches. Here the characters actually speak to each other, and I found their conversations incredibly interesting. While I couldn't follow the details of the debates about the Catholic rules, I knew enough to follow the big picture, and I loved seeing the Christian mythology ("God hates it when you call it that") come alive in such a modern fashion. It's very irreverent toward organized religion, especially Catholicism, but it's just as reverent about God. It takes all of the mythology seriously and never doubts its truth, and this lays the foundation which makes the movie work. 

The plot involves two angels, Bartleby (Ben Affleck) and Loki (Matt Damon), who attempt to get back into Heaven. They were kicked out after an argument with God, but they found a loophole which will allow them to return. Unfortunately, their return would prove God fallible, and all existence would end. So God's mouthpiece, Metatron (Alan Rickman), charges Bethany (Linda Fiorentino) with a holy crusade to stop them, and she receives help from the prophets, Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith), the last Apostle (Chris Rock), and the Muse (Salma Hayek).

Summary by Bill Alward, November 8, 2003

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