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 loop-hole and reenter Heaven.

Director:

Kevin Smith

Writer:

Kevin Smith

Stars:

Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Linda Fiorentino

8 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:

silent bob character | jay character | angel | clinic | abortion clinic | 

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Taglines:

Get 'touched' by an angel.

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Drama | 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:

Bearclaw

Filming Locations:

New Jersey, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$10,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$8,669,945, 14 November 1999, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$30,651,422, 26 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

In the opening sequence at the airport, Gwyneth Paltrow was sitting a couple of seats away from Ben Affleck. She is never seen however, and was only there because Affleck had invited her to the set that day as a friend.

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Goofs

When Rufus falls to Earth, both of his feet are facing the same way. In the next shot, both his feet are facing inward.

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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

"DOGMA" is the culmination of a lifetime's worth of disparate spiritual and satirical influences, which owes a debt to sundry storytellers and word-smiths these authors and instigators I humbly thank in no particular order... Saint Matthew, Saint Mark, Saint Luke, Saint John, Sam Kinison, George Carlin, Elaine Pagels, John Milton, Cervantes, Martin Scorsese, Alan Moore, Thomas Moore, Spike Lee, Douglas Adams, Robert Bolt, Quentin Tarantino, Nikos Kazantzakis, Denys Arcand, Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison, Matt Wagner, Howard, Robin, Jackie, Fred, Gary, and Everyone at The Howard Stern Show and Sister Theresa from 8th grade

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Connections

Referenced in The Fall of Harvey Weinstein (2017)

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Soundtracks

Blue Danube Waltz Opus 314
Johann Strauss (as Strauss)
Courtesy of FirstCom & Chappell Recorded Music Library

User Reviews

A Religious Comedy

I am a huge Kevin Smith fan and after seeing this film I can say that it was everything I hoped it would be, and a little bit more. It's extremely well written and directed. The film has the same great comedy we're used to from Kevin Smith, but he shows that he has another dimension that I don't think many people thought was there.

Jay and Silent Bob have their biggest role so far. Jay has some of his laugh out loud funniest one liners yet. But what really makes this a great film is that it is genuinely thought provoking.

There are religious people out there who will criticize this film as being anti religion, anti Catholicism, when it is anything but (well, a little anti Cathlic maybe). The central theme to the film is that there is a God, but not the God that most people know (or think they know) or believe in. The characters in the film are trying to get the message across that people have changed the original God, man has made God into the image they want him/her to be, made their own religious rules, rules that God never intended. From a strictly biblical standpoint, Smith is right on, which is not something that can be said about many films dealing with religion. And isn't that the entire point to Christianity, that it's based on the bible.