Dogma (1999)

An abortion clinic worker with a special heritage is called upon to save the existence of humanity from being negated by two renegade angels trying to exploit a loophole and re-enter Heaven.

Director:

Kevin Smith

Writer:

Kevin Smith

Stars:

Bud Cort, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck

6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Bud Cort	...	John Doe Jersey
Barret Hackney	...	Stygian Triplet (as Barrett Hackney)
Jared Pfennigwerth	...	Stygian Triplet
Kitao Sakurai	...	Stygian Triplet
George Carlin	...	Cardinal Glick
Brian O'Halloran	...	Grant Hicks (as Brian Christopher O'Halloran)
Betty Aberlin	...	Nun
Matt Damon	...	Loki
Ben Affleck	...	Bartleby
Dan Etheridge	...	Priest at St. Stephen's
Linda Fiorentino	...	Bethany
Derek Milosavljevic	...	Kissing Couple
Lesley Braden	...	Kissing Couple
Marie Elena O'Brien	...	Clinic Girl (scenes deleted) (as MarieElena O'Brien)
Janeane Garofalo	...	Liz

Storyline

An abortion clinic worker with a special heritage is enlisted to prevent two angels from reentering Heaven and thus undoing the fabric of the universe. Along the way, she is aided by two prophets, Jay and Silent Bob. With the help of Rufus, the 13th Apostle, they must stop those who stand in their way and prevent the angels from entering Heaven.

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Plot Keywords:

angel | clinic | abortion clinic | abortion | church | 

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Taglines:

Faith is a funny thing.

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Fantasy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong language including sex-related dialogue, violence, crude humor and some drug content

Details

Official Sites:

Lions Gate Official Site (French)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

12 November 1999 (USA)

Also Known As:

God

Filming Locations:

600 Grant Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£137,050 (UK) (24 December 1999)

Gross:

$30,651,422 (USA) (24 March 2000)

Company Credits

Production Co:

View Askew Productions, STK

Technical Specs

Runtime:

130 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The character of Gov. Dalton - played by a different actress - was originally in the original version of Kevin Smith's Mallrats, but was cut from that movie.

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Goofs

The amount of Rufus' "Egg A Mooby Muffin" changes inconsistently between shots when he, Bethany, Jay and Silent Bob are eating breakfast.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Announcer: Ladies and Gentlemen, the driving force behind Catholicism WOW, Cardinal Glick.
Cardinal Glick: Thank you, thank you, thank you. Now we all know how the majority and the media in this country view the Catholic church. They think of us as a passe, archaic institution. People find the Bible obtuse... even hokey. Now in an effort to disprove all that the church has appointed this year as a time of renewal... both of faith and of style. For example, the crucifix. While it has been a time honored ...

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Crazy Credits

Jay and Silent Bob will return in "Clerks 2: Hardly Clerkin'"

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Connections

References Orgazmo (1997)

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Soundtracks

"It's Like That"
Written by Larry K. Smith (as L. Smith), Joseph Simmons (as J. Simmons) & Darryl McDaniels (as D. McDaniels)
Performed by Run-D.M.C. (as RUN-DMC)
Used by permission of Protoons, Inc. (ASCAP)/Rush-Groove Music (ASCAP)
Courtesy of Arista/Profile Records

User Reviews

Great concept, adequate execution, likable movie

"Dogma" isn't the kind of comedy that most people will find themselves holding onto their guts during. It's more the second-long "ha!" kind of comedy.

That simply means Kevin Smith's writing is clever enough to the point where you will be pleasantly shocked by some of the conversations and events of the film and think it all rather amusing and humorous. It's not hilarious, it's just clever and a bit funny.

The premise is rather interesting and surprisingly from a more fantasy-esquire genre than Smith traditionally dabbles with. Loki (Matt Damon) and Bartleby (Ben Affleck) are more or less fallen angels that have found a way back into heaven. They must be stopped or the world will come to a screeching halt, so a seemingly random protagonist named Bethany gets charged by God to stop them. Simple, but the slick, nonchalant approach to religion keeps the satire rampant.

The film does spend a lot of its time explaining itself, which isn't too bad considering Smith keeps the explanations to-the-point and allows the characters to stay interesting in the process. Chris Rock, who plays an apostle, and Alan Rickman, who plays God's messenger/ voice are two of these characters that are both good in the film and Smith has allowed to maintain their character's edge despite lines upon lines of explanation.

Getting from point A to point B and so on is not the film's strength. The physical events that take place are ultimately boring and unexciting. It's the moments along the way, the conversations and the philosophy that come about, that make it successful. Affleck's character raises a lot of interesting religious questions about humanity and his conversation with the protagonist on the train is rather insightful. In general, Smith has used Bethany as a way to keep the viewers skepticism of the plot active in the film. She keeps it from getting preposterous. In general, the whole cast is very talented and their characters well written, which keeps the film interesting.

It's not the funniest or most interesting comedy in terms of plot and the sequence of events, but "Dogma" is a smart concept that ultimately results in a sharp satire and some great thoughts that scrutinize religion in a way that never seems too out of line.