kevin smith is like a big kid .
his humor is that of a sophisticated juvenile’s .
he grew up idolizing star wars and loves comic books , having also written a few .
he also has a cult following , mostly composed of teenagers , college students , and smith’s own fellow adolescent-minded grownups .
smith is hilarious in person and in writing , but when he tries to be earnest and moralize , that is when he goes wrong .
kevin smith is a better writer than director , and he’ll be the first to tell you that .
that might also be part of the reason why his moralizing comes across as so heavy-handed .
great directors show us their theses instead of having the characters sermonize them .
this was true in the overrated chasing amy , and it is true for dogma as well .
that is not to say smith’s message is a bad one .
in dogma , smith tells us that problems arise when people believe beyond any doubt that their insight into god and god’s desires is superior to anyone else’s .
basically , dogmatism is bad .
changing the minds of the dogmatic is virtually impossible , and since the dogmatic believe that they have special insight , they also know what is best for you , whether you like it or not .
this is not exactly a new message in movies ( see inherit the wind ) , but i have no problems with recycling old ones , particularly since dogma’s protesters are proving smith’s point .
smith’s own problem with delivering this message is that he beats us over the head with it like we are reading a dogma for dummies book .
but this is smith’s personality , and his simplistic views neglect such adult issues as how does one interpret the bible ( or koran , etc . ) correctly ( or if there even is a correctly ) and how one settles disputes of heretofore dogmatic concerns .
the story concerns abortion clinic worker bethany ( linda fiorentino ) being chosen by voice of god , metatron ( alan rickman ) , to prevent the destruction of the universe by two fallen angels , bartleby ( ben affleck ) and angel of death , loki ( matt damon ) .
along the way , forgotten thirteenth apostle , rufus ( chris rock ) , stripper muse serendipity ( salma hayek ) , and slacker duo jay and silent bob ( jason mewes and kevin smith himself ) come to bethany’s aid .
fallen muse , azrael ( jason lee ) , proves to be the behind-the-scenes manipulator for all the chicanery .
the logical but convoluted plot only exists as an excuse for the jokes and to make smith’s points , and in itself , has little dramatic momentum .
among the supposedly outrageous claims made by the film is that god is a woman , jesus was black , and the bible was written by a bunch of racist , misogynistic white men .
of course , kevin smith does not necessarily subscribe to these ideas himself .
they are a metaphor for the fears and insecurities of the dogmatic .
smith says as much in his amusing disclaimer that precedes the movie .
when harvey weinstein asked smith to put it into the film before cannes , smith thought it might give validation to protesters’ claims that the film was sacrilegious , but then he rethought it and turned the disclaimer into a joke .
the film’s humor is uneven .
some parts are very funny as when bethany goes for a fire extinguisher when metatron makes a burning-bush kind of entrance .
but many of the film’s jokes just bomb , as in virtually anything involving salma hayek’s serendipity .
also , some of the jokes can be seen coming from a mile away .
still , smith keeps the zingers coming at a sufficiently rapid pace .
among the actors , fiorentino and rickman stand out by far .
fiorentino virtually by herself gives the film emotional weight .
damon and affleck are fairly lackluster .
rock and hayek exist in the film pretty much only as comic relief as are mews and smith .
but the latter duo fare much better because jay and silent bob , who recur in all of smith’s movies , are much more in line with smith’s brand of humor .
bud cort , george carlin , janeane garofalo , guinevere turner , and alanis morissette all make cameo appearances .