“Dogma” (1999)
“Good Lord. The little stoner has a point!”
Oh come on! It’s a Christmas film, kind of, and Alan Rickman (may he rest in acting peace) is the voice and confidant of God and God happens to be a cartwheeling Alanis Morissette and George Carlin (may he rest in comedic peace) is a comical cardinal and Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are avenging fallen angels and naturally you have the saver of the world entire in the hands of a 13th Apostle, a stoner, a silent bearded man, a team of avenging evil hockey players and of course, a Golgothan shit demon!
Happy Christmas everyone!
Dogma is only pipped to the top spot in my obsessional love for the cinematic work of director Kevin Smith by Clerks in 1994 (favourite of his early period) and Red State in 2011, an overwhelming favourite of his later career. I’m re-releasing my original spoiler free review of Red State separately and soon, but all twelve of Kevin’s releases up to and including my apathy for Yoga Hosers in 2016 are included within the opus blog article linked below. Since 2016, Smith has helmed another follow up in his personal franchise of films, 2019’s Jay and Silent Bob Reboot (which I liked but didn’t love) as well as another in Clerks III and Kilroy Was Here, both released in varying formats this year.
But it’s to arguably Smith’s finest achievement we turn (Red State is far, far better but for differing artistic reasons) and a film I adore for its sheer bloody mindedness to twist and play with conventional thinking, find space for yet another cameo from the comedic genius that was George Carlin, and for just making a hilariously funny piece of cinematic fun.
“Good Lord. The little stoner has a point!”
Dogma is one of my favourite films of all time and I revere the madness that this film represents very close to my twisted heart. But anyway, a little bit of scene setting: “Bethany” is working at Planned Parenthood and slowly losing her long held faith. Visited by an Angel in her bedroom, she is handed an unusual task, to save humanity! Attacked in a car park by a ferocious gang, Bethany is rescued by an unusual pair of human beings. Cue “Jay” and “Silent Bob”. So, with the help of Jay and Silent Bob, Bethany is to undertake a task completely out of the blue, with the repercussion being if she’s unsuccessful, humanity will no longer exist.
With me so far?
I will keep the remainder purposefully vague for two reasons. Firstly, if you haven’t seen this film and have stumbled your way down my Kevin Smith appreciation unaware of how good Dogma is, then I hope when you see the following cast list you’ll be intrigued further and desperate to see this all time classic film. The following really is the cast list and the characters they play are as noted! Secondly, I intend to write a complete scene by scene treatise of Dogma some day as I obsess time and time again over this film. So until that time, here are your principal players:
“Bethany” (Linda Fiorentino) The Last Scion and saver of the earth. As you would expect from such an exalted and indeed expectant role, Fiorentino is the star of the film and utterly brilliant. A true star performance.
“Bartleby” (Ben Affleck) A fallen angel intent on returning home to heaven, with the occasional wild killing spree in the meantime. Also prone to spreading his wings occasionally.
“Loki” (Matt Damon) See Bartleby above just with less wing spreading tendencies and more loquacious dialogue and thoughts on the world.
“Metatron” (Alan Rickman) The Voice of God. Her occasional confidant too.
Alan Rickman — with added sarcasm to match his wingspan. A brilliant performance.
“Rufus” (Chris Rock) The thirteenth apostle on talking terms with both Jesus and God. One of them owes him “12 bucks” apparently.
“Serendipity” (Salma Hayek) A Muse rewarded with a real life back on earth. Makes quite a first impression! Also responsible for 19 of the top 20 grossing films of all time but had nothing to do with the Home Alone film, apparently.
“Somebody sold their soul to Satan to get the grosses up on that piece of shit”.
“Azrael” (Jason Lee) Another Muse but condemned to hell who’s wrecking havoc on his return to earth. Jason Lee again brilliant in a Kevin Smith film.
“Jay and Silent Bob” (Jason Mewes and Kevin Smith) It wouldn’t be Dogma if it wasn’t for Jay and Bob’s stoner wisdom.
“God” (Alanis Morissette) Skipping, smiling, cartwheeling God.
“Cardinal Glick” (George Carlin) A cameo performance that only George Carlin could play. Much missed. Rest in Peace you beautiful soul.
A classic film needs a stand out musical score and Howard Shore provides it in spades and the soundtrack to the film is highly recommended too. “The Blue Danube Waltz Opus 314” by Johann Strauss is mixed with “Magic Moments” from Perry Como, “Candy Girl” from New Edition and the more contemporary “It’s Like That” from Run DMC. Numerous cameos from Kevin Smith regulars, so many subtle, and some not so subtle film references, plus of course the odd mention of Star Wars! A myopic fan I may be but I remain astonished that Dogma did not feature in any Oscar nominations of the year and has continued to be only warmly received. It certainly pokes at least one eye very hard and challenges the audience to go along with the utter absurd nature of the story juxtaposed with a challenge to their beliefs even for those with no religious leanings. 14 years on since it’s initial release Dogma remains fresh and stunning, sublimely edited to just over a two hour runtime with visual effects that 14 years on, on the whole, still stand up to scrutiny. Brilliant character performances bring to life Kevin Smith’s surreal screenplay so put your tongue firmly in your cheek, drop the religious bullshit and dogma, and enjoy one of the best films of all time.
In two hours time, Alanis Morrissette’s “Still” will play over the closing credits and you’ll have enjoyed a stunning film.
Thanks for reading. Just for larks as always, and always a human reaction rather than spoilers galore. My three most recently published filmarticles are linked below or there’s well over 100 blog articles (with 300+ individual film reviews ) within my archives from which to choose:
