Dogma

My first, funniest, and dearest Smith film of its time hasn't lost any of its comedic cadence with the passage of time. However, my perspective is a little different given the rest of the director's films. Smith pushed aside his personal views on pop culture and took on church dogmas, whose frequent inflexibility to the current state of society is blatant. It violates them all, makes outrageous fun of them with the help of the most tasteless humor, and yet it is so purely its own, absolutely funny, straightforwardly accurate, never for a moment stooping to awkward variations (hello The Da Vinci Code). This makes Smith’s most mainstream (not counting Jersey Girl) film into a damn polished flick that, while its edge is not as perfectly honed as the rest (neither in terms of humor nor sarcasm), is still supremely entertaining. (08/19/2007)

Damon is simply great and Affleck landed perhaps the best role. Smith admirably mixed a religious movie with a comedy about junkies without it being at all disruptive. Even though the movie is over two hours long, it flies by quickly and never a boring moment. Thumbs up, but not right up to the skies. (12/28/2010)

"Dogma" is not one of my favorite Kevin Smith movies, but thanks to the good characters - Jay is great here and fits perfectly with Silent Bob - it is bearable. I like how Smith tackles religion, focuses on certain aspects, and above all, he is right. The story itself didn't really captivate me, but the dialogues are simply good. Again. (03/20/2015)

A hilarious Kevin Smith religious romp that abounds with excellent casting and occasional (un)expected outbursts of violence. If it's satire, it's really only a little bit, more likely just another Kevin Smith comedy with lots of unexpected revelations and life wisdom. Any allusions to religious beliefs here are merely used by Kevin Smith for his purpose, and it has to be said that he does so rather humorously most of the time. "No ticket." [75%] (08/20/2022)

Poor Kevin Smith had a hard time in the late 90s. Best friends Ben Affleck and Matt Damonslandered him in pubs all along the West Coast, saying he didn't pay them and how he would explain that charity to the taxman. Kevin Smith decided to respond to this undeserved criticism by making a hit with the support of a major studio, resulting in a movie that had an impressive set design and cast. This unjust accusation dates back to then, claiming that Smith could be bought and Dogma is a mainstream studio comedy that lacks the typical Smith traits and provocative nature. None of this is true because making a film in America with a religious theme that so disrespectfully deals with all religious dogmas, from portraying God as a woman to a secret black apostle, and simultaneously being so disrespectful to official religious authorities, is an extremely daring thing, so it's probably Smith's most daring endeavor in his career. The film is full of ideas, comedic situations, and elements of absurdity, but at the same time, it is, like most of Smith's films, somewhat uneven and unpolished. To fully appreciate all the nuances, it is really good to know a little more about Christian beliefs and the social situation in the United States. I particularly enjoyed the scenes where Affleck and Damon try to moralize the board of directors of a company and use hellish methods to do so. The casting was unconventional, but it paid off, including Alanis as the boss of the heavens. Overall impression: 80%. (01/15/2008)