Dogma (1999)

Dogma is eminently unorthodox and more than ten tads of quirky with a sheen of irreverence -- that is, it has a peanuty spiritual center that is covered in chocolate but its candy coating won't melt in your hands. The script is chock full of complexity and humor with a plot that's syncretic and postmodern. This droll comedy begins as two "heavenly archangels," Bartleby (Ben Affleck) and Loki (Matt Damon), weary after centuries of doing God's smiting with swords, decide to steal a page from Lucifer's playbook. Their plan? Sneak down to Earth, crash the consecration of a Catholic church in New Jersey, and exploit a loophole that would prove God wrong and thereby unmake heaven and Earth. (George Carlin is the officious and schmaltzy Cardinal Glick.) Meanwhile, the voice of God (Alan Rickman) asks Bethany (Linda Fiorentino) to stop them (with good reason even though her faith is shaky at best). At her side are the "13th apostle," Rufus (Chris Rock), and "the two prophets," slacker dudes Silent Bob (Kevin Smith) and Jay (Jason Mewes). Arrayed against her are the demon Azrael (Jason Lee) and Serendipity (Salma Hayak) plus the high-sticking Stygian Triplets, who have found a way to keep God out of the contest. You can't keep a good man down though and the confrontation ends with a divine manifestation that throws even more preconceptions on their ear. Seriously orthodox Christians may be offended by farcical as well as whimsical elements of the story though I for one took it all in stride as a) fiction, b) comedy, and c) not a theological treatise. In fact, while I found the ending to be a little weak, I enjoyed every campy and wacky twist that Dogma had to offer. You don't often get a sustained attempt at a semicredible theological story for a Hollywood movie so I cut Dogma a lot of slack -- not that it needed much. Dogma is more campy, zany, and funny than Citizen Ruth meets Bruce Almighty. 4.5 stars.