Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Chris Rock, Salma Hayek, Linda Fiorentino, Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith
If You Have a Couple of Pissed Off Angels, Who Else is Going to Play Them But Matt and Ben
I have tried to keep this a secret, but I can't hide it any longer. I am a huge Kevin Smith. OK, I haven't really tried to keep that a secret (I just thought confessions sound cool)... but I am a Kevin Smith fan, except for Mall Rats. Ever since Clerks I have thought that this independent filmmaker had a gift for comedy while still having some sort of social commentary. Even Mallrats, widely considered a his worst work and an all around bomb, showed something about how much mass commercialism has taken over our society (plus it was filmed in a mall within 30 minutes from my house). And Kevin Smith's latest film, Dogma is probably his best so far with some of the biggest laughs, best characters and some creat writing.
Bartleby (Ben Affleck) and Loki (Matt Damon) are two fallen angels just trying to get home
What are you going to do if you are two angels who were kicked out of heaven by God? Well, since it is paradise you would try to get back in, right? That is exactly what Bartleby (Ben Affleck, Shakespeare in Love, Armageddon, Good Will Hunting) and Loki (Matt Damon, Rounders, Saving Private Ryan, Good Will Hunting) are trying to do when they find a loophole in Catholic Dogma that allows them to be absolved of their sins, and hence to be allowed into heaven. If they are allowed to pass through the archway of church in New Jersey, the Catholic church will remove all of their sins. The only problem is God said they would be cast out of Heaven forever, and by getting into they prove that God is not infallable... and since that is the central edict of the universe, if Bartleby and Loki walk into that church they will single handedly erase existance. So why doesn't God just use his infinite power and stop them? Well it turns out God likes to go down to earth every once in awhile as a human to play skeeball (interesting huh, I would have pegged God as a Whack-a-Mole man myself), and during his last vacation he dissappeared and they don't know where he went. Instead they sent the angel Metatron (Alan Rickman, Die Hard, Robin Hood: Prince of Theives) to deliver a message to Bethany (Linda Fiorentino, Men In Black), who is know as the Last Zion (which means she is last know relative of Jesus Christ).
Rufus (Chris Rock), Silent Bob (Kevin Smith), Jay (Jason Mewes) and Bethany (Linda Fiorentino)
To help her, Heaven is sending two prophets, in recurring characters Jay (Jason Mewes, Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy) and Silent Bob (Director/Screenwriter Kevin Smith, Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy), and the previously unknown 13th apostle Rufus (Chris Rock, CB4, Lethal Weapon 4). Unfortunately there is another former angel helping Bartleby and Loki along the way named Azrael (Jason Lee, Enemy of the State, Chasing Amy). Azrael is also pissed at God so he does everything he can to ensure that Bartleby and Loki make it into that church. Along the way Bethany, Jay, Silent Bob and Rufus run into Serendipity (Salma Hayek, Wild Wild West, Desperado), a former Muse who gave Divine inspiration to the entertainment industry, and with her help they have to try and figure out who is helping Bartleby and Loki and how they are going to stop them. The only problem is Loki and Bartleby are angels, and therefore practically invincible... so there is no real way that Bethany, Rufus, Serendipity, Jay and Silent Bob can stop them. In fact the only "person" who could stop them is God, so Bethany has to find God in his human form and free him so he can use his power to stop Loki and Bartleby.
My two favorite characters, Silent Bob (Kevin Smith) and Jay (Jason Mewes)
In my opinion, this is the best of Kevin Smith's four movies so far... yes, even better than Clerks. It has everything that his earlier movies had going for them and more. First, like Clerks, Chasing Amy and to a lesser extent Mallrats, it has excellent writing and characters. The dialogue and situatins are very smart and funny, in fact this is the best written of all of Kevin Smith's films. It is full of great laughs and great characters. Like Rufus, the miliant 13th apostle who was left out of the Bible because he was black; Serendipity, the muse who inspired "19 of the 20 top grossing movies of all time" but can't think of a single entertaining idea for herself so she became a stripper; and of course Jay and Silent Bob, who really just want to get a little lovin' from Bethany. Second, unlike his earlier films (except for possibly Chasing Amy), it has tons of huge names and great acting. That isn't to say that the acting in his earlier movies wasn't good, but they were pretty much filled with (pardon the expression) no-name actors who weren't the greatest actors in the world. Dogma is filled to the brim with big name stars like Chris Rock, Salma Hayek, George Carlin, Alan Rickman, Alanis Morissette (I know she isn't a great actress or even a good singer, but she's in there), Janine Garofalo and Oscar Winners Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, along with Smith's staples Jason Mewes (Jay) and himself (Silent Bob). If you are a Kevin Smith fan (which you all should be), then you will love Dogma. If you have some problems with organized religion, you will like Dogma. Hell, even if you are a devout Christian with a good sense of humor you will like Dogma, so go on out and see it.
