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Dogma
USA 1999
Reviewed by Kevin Maher
Synopsis
Our synopses give away the plot in full, including surprise twists.
New Jersey, the present. An old man is badly beaten and sent into a coma. At Red Bank cathedral, Cardinal Glick reveals that the Pope has granted a plenary indulgence for anyone who enters the cathedral during its rededication ceremony in four days' time. In Wisconsin, fallen angels Bartleby and Loki decide to gain this indulgence to re-enter heaven. In Illinois, the seraph Metatron orders abortion-clinic worker Bethany Sloane - who's angry with God because of her own diseased womb - to protect the cathedral from the angels. Although initially reluctant, Bethany agrees. Drug dealers Jay and Silent Bob save her from a mugging and the three head for NJ. On the way they meet Rufus, the thirteenth apostle. They encounter Serendipity, a Muse, along the way. and are attacked by the Golgothon, a 'Shit Monster', but Silent Bob destroys him.
Bartleby and Loki visit the offices of a giant cartoon franchise, and massacre the board of management for breaking the first commandment. On the train to New Jersey they confront Bethany, but Silent Bob throws them off. Metatron appears to Bethany and tells her she's the last descendant of Christ and that God is missing from Heaven. Arriving in Red Bank, Bethany and the others are trapped in a bar by the demon Azrael, while Bartleby slaughters those assembled at the cathedral. Having escaped the bar, Bethany realises God is trapped inside the comatose old man. Bethany runs to the hospital and kills him, thereby freeing God who undoes the slaughter and forgives Bartleby. Bethany discovers she's miraculously pregnant.
Review
Despite the now notorious anti-blasphemy campaign waged against Dogma in the US, the most controversial element in writer-director Kevin Smith's new "religious satire" is not its alleged sacrilege, but its heavy-handed piety. This sporadically charming but pedagogical tale of abortion-clinic worker Bethany and her spiritual road trip is aggressively pro-faith. Bethany's journey to New Jersey is marked by several encounters with quasi-religious figures, such as Chris Rock's Rufus and Alan Rickman's Metatron, whose theology is part John Milton, part Christian mythology but all devotion. As Rufus declares, "It doesn't matter what you believe in, as long as you have faith!" And even though Smith's occasionally erudite script suggests the hardly groundbreaking notions that Christ was black and that Mary wasn't a virgin, this is still a movie whose narrative kernel is contingent on the infallibility of the Catholic Church.
Smith's structure here is an obvious departure from the films in his so-called New Jersey trilogy (Clerks, Mallrats and Chasing Amy). Instead of the usual simple three-act drama of the latter, he has embraced the episodic structure of road movies, making The Wizard of Oz (1939) a key text. Accompanied by an Oz-like motley crew comprised of Rufus and the trilogy's recurring characters Jay and Silent Bob, Bethany's Dorothy figure is guided through an adolescence of theological confusion and sent home pregnant. Smith exchanges his crude but effective two-shots of people in strip malls and video stores for an array of crane shots, tracks and effects befitting a fantastical travelogue. DP Robert Yeoman (Drugstore Cowboy), replacing Smith regular David Klein, has added some elegant widescreen framing to the mix.
The unfortunate result of this bravura rejection of his trademark minimalism is that Dogma merely highlights Smith's weaknesses as a visual director. He overuses reaction shots when such scenes as the final scuffle with fallen angel Bartleby are virtually crying out for action, leaves jarring location changes unexplained, and subordinates action to dialogue. And while the dialogue displays Smith's canny gift for mellifluous everyday speech, the loftier-than-usual subject matter forces him into a defensive and all-too-regular use of comic relief. The appearance of the Golgothon 'Shit Monster' and the 'zany' boardroom massacre are both glaring comedy misfires, while Jay's overuse of sexual innuendo soon becomes tiresome and repetitious, as do the constant references to Star Wars, Indiana Jones films and The Incredible Hulk.
Yet there's a sporadic nonsensical energy to Dogma that's appealing, mainly due to the cast's camp showboating. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck as the fallen angels in particular seem to be poking fun at their media image. Linda Fiorentino's Bethany, though required to do a lot of blank-faced listening, is compelling in the unusual position of an autonomous heroine who's having a spiritual crisis rather than predictable boyfriend troubles. But, ultimately, Dogma is less than the sum of its components. It's clearly not a religious satire since its conclusion merely reinstates the theocratic hegemony it pretended to challenge in the first place. Nor does it quite work as a road movie. Not quite sure whether it's about Bethany's spiritual quest or Bartleby's redemption, the film splits our attentions and affections. As an ambitious and overreaching break with Smith's provincial milieu Dogma is a failed experiment, but a noble failure.
Credits
- Director
- Kevin Smith
- Producer
- Scott Mosier
- Screenplay
- Kevin Smith
- Director of Photography
- Robert Yeoman
- Editors
- Kev
- [i.e. Kevin Smith]
- Scott
- [i.e. Scott Mosier]
- Production Designer
- Robert 'Ratface' Holtzman
- Music/Music Conductor
- Howard Shore
- ©Miramax Film Corp.
- Production Company
- A View Askew production
- Co-producer
- Laura Greenlee
- Creative Executive for Miramax
- Jonathan Gordon
- Production Co-ordinator
- Lisa Bradley
- 2nd Unit Co-ordinator
- Annie Loeffler
- Production Manager
- Susan McNamara
- Unit Manager
- New Jersey Unit:
- Ian MacGregor
- Locations Managers
- Jeff Stimmel
- New Jersey Unit:
- Dan Milner
- Post Supervisor
- Monica Hampton
- 2nd Unit Director
- Scott Mosier
- Assistant Directors
- James Alan Hensz
- Athena Alexander
- Paula Smith
- Script Supervisors
- Carol Banker
- 2nd Unit:
- Victoria L. Toner
- Casting
- Local:
- Donna Belajac
- ADR Voice:
- Barbara Harris
- 2nd Unit Director of Photography
- Brian Sweeney
- Camera Operators
- Brian Sweeney
- 2nd Unit:
- Adam Kane
- Steadicam Operator
- John Nuler
- Visual Effects/ Digital Animation
- Station X Studios, LLC
- Visual Effects Supervisor:
- Richard Payne
- Digital Creative Director:
- Meni Tsirbas
- CG Supervisor:
- Fred Tepper
- Colour Grading Supervisor:
- Andy Lesniak
- Composite Artist:
- Karl Denham
- Digital Artists:
- Timur Baysal
- Glen Miller
- Frank Aalbers
- Danny Braet
- Bryant Reif
- Digital Co-ordinators:
- Alan Precourt
- Grant Viklund
- CPU Co-ordinator:
- Ben Breakstone
- Production Executive:
- Allen Crawford
- Executive Producer:
- Grant Boucher
- Visual Effects Producers:
- Darcy Leslie
- Eileen O'Connor
- Visual Effects Production Co-ordinator:
- Anne Miller
- Project Software Director:
- Fori Owurowa
- Technical Supervisor:
- Hector Barrera
- Additional Computer Graphics
- Threshold Digital Research Labs
- Supervising Producer:
- Alison Savitch
- Visual Effects Producer:
- Kim Lavery
- Post Producer:
- George Johnson
- Visual Effects Artists:
- Scott Coulter
- Pamela Fernandez
- Greg Nelson
- Special Effects
- Bellissimo/Belardinelli Effects
- Special Effects Co-ordinator:
- Charles Belardinelli
- Special Effects Co-co-ordinator:
- Tom Bellissimo
- Special Effects Key:
- Joel P. Blanchard
- Special Effects Foreman:
- Frankie Iudica Jr
- Special Effects Technicians:
- Ralph R. Pivirotto
- Chris Brenczewski
- Malia K. Thompson
- Graphic Artist
- R. Scott Purcell
- Art Director
- Elise G. Viola
- Set Decorator
- Diana Stoughton
- Storyboard Artist
- Scott Mosier
- Costume Designer
- Abigail Murray
- Wardrobe Supervisor
- Diane Collins
- Make-up
- KeyArtist:
- Jeannee Josefczyk
- Artists:
- Rachel Kick
- Additional:
- Rod Carter
- Special Make-up & Creature Effects Creator/Designer
- Vincent J. Guastini
- Special Make-up/ Creature Effects
- Vincent Guastini Productions
- Key Effects Artists/ Co-ordinators:
- Louie Zakarian
- Joe Macchia
- Key Effects Artists:
- Thomas L. Denier Jr
- Vincent T. Schicchi
- Sandy Collora
- Eli Livingston
- Mark Hutzky
- Matt Smith
- Additional Effects Artists:
- Mike Rotella
- Jane Choi
- Jake Garber
- Evan Campbell
- Brian McCrudden
- Ariyela Wald Cohain
- Concept Artist:
- Frank Fruscello
- Wing Feathering Design/Construction Supervisor:
- Lisa Lowe
- Construction Co-ordinator:
- William Iverson
- Key Feathering & Construction:
- Villamor M. Cruz
- Richard Van Owen
- Jeff Frymer
- Wing Foam Fabrication:
- Jeff Himmel
- Paul Salamoff
- Feather Dyeing & Airbrushing:
- Lisa Lowe
- Dirk Rogers
- Rails Kahn
- Mark Alfrey
- Jeremy Lenzky
- Scott Rhodes
- Feathering Technicians:
- Nancy Pass
- Lilo Tavaro
- Paul McGinns
- Jean Lowe
- Ron Lowe
- Noman & Wing Mechanics Construction Co-ordinator:
- Greg Ramoundos
- Wing Mechanics Designer/Supervisor:
- Ken Walker
- Key Mechanical Technician:
- John Cherevka
- Mechanical Technicians:
- Sabine Hodde
- Jeff Frymer
- Elvis Jones
- Feather Sculptor:
- Mark Alfrey
- Puppeteers:
- Greg Ramoundos
- John Cherevka
- Kevin P. Smith
- Vincent J. Guastini
- Louie Zakarian
- Joe Macchia
- Thomas L. Denier Jr
- Craig A. Hicks
- Dave 'Yoko' Jose
- Hair
- Key Stylist:
- Jeffrey Alen Rubis
- Artist:
- Taylor Knight
- Additional:
- Nancy Keslar
- Titles/Opticals
- Howard Anderson Co.
- End Crawl
- REI Media Group, NY
- Electronic Production
- Howe Building, Tuxedo
- Technical Supervisor:
- Robert Cotnoir
- Studio Manager:
- Cathy Moore
- Auricle Operator
- Chris Cozens
- Orchestrations
- Howard Shore
- Ryan Shore
- Music Supervisor
- Randall Poster
- Music Editors
- Shari Schwartz Johanson
- Suzana Peric
- Recording Engineer
- Simon Rhodes
- Music Mixers
- Howard Shore
- Robert Cotnoir
- Choreography
- J.T. Hornstein
- Sound Design
- Tom Myers
- Sound Supervisor
- Richard Hymns
- Sound Mixer
- Whit Norris
- Re-recording Sound Mixers
- Tom Myers
- Gary Rizzo
- Supervising Sound Editors
- Ethan Van der Ryn
- Phil Benson
- Dialogue Editors
- Richard Quinn
- Ewa Sztompke-Oatfield
- Sound Effects Editor
- André Fenley
- ADR
- Editor:
- Linda Kay Brown
- Foley
- Editor:
- Sandina Bailo-Lape
- Stunt Co-ordinator
- Gary Jensen
- Cast
- Ben Affleck
- Bartleby
- George Carlin
- Cardinal Glick
- Matt Damon
- Loki
- Linda Fiorentino
- Bethany Sloane
- Salma Hayek
- Serendipity
- Jason Lee
- Azrael
- Jason Mewes
- Jay
- Alan Rickman
- Metatron, the voice of God
- Chris Rock
- Rufus, the 13th apostle
- Bud Cort
- John Doe Jersey
- Alanis Morissette
- God
- Jeff Anderson
- gun salesman
- Brian Christopher O'Halloran
- Grant Hicks, tv reporter
- Janeane Garofalo
- clinic girl
- Betty Aberlin
- nun
- Dwight Ewell
- Kane
- Guinevere Turner
- bus station attendant
- Jared Pfennigwerth
- Kitao Sakurai
- Barrett Hackney
- Stygian triplets
- Kevin Smith
- Silent Bob
- Dan Etheridge
- Father Dan Etheridge, St Stephen's priest
- Derek Milosavljevic
- Lesley Braden
- kissing couple
- MarieElena O'Brien
- clinic girl
- Bryan Johnson
- Walter Flanagan
- protestors
- Nancy Bach
- Mrs Reynolds
- Armando Rodriguez
- waiter
- Scott Mosier
- smooching seaman
- Monica Hampton
- seaman smoocher
- Benjamin Cain
- Richard Baderinwa
- Javon Johnson
- Derrick Sanders
- gangsters
- Mark Joy
- Whitland
- Linda Levine
- woman in boardroom
- Ethan Suplee
- voice of No Man
- Jon Gordon
- blanket boy on train
- Matthew Maher
- bartender
- Nancy Mosser Bailey
- Governor Elizabeth Dalton
- Robert 'Ratface' Holtzman
- Officer McGee
- Certificate
- tbc
- Distributor
- Film Four Distributors
- tbc feet
- tbc minutes
- Dolby
- Colour by
- DeLuxe
- Super 35 [2;.35:1]