MIDDLE-AGED MATINEE! #25 - 'Dogma' (1999)

5/5 Stars!

In 1994, writer and director Kevin Smith hit the scene with his beloved indie classic, “Clerks”. He then followed that up with “Mallrats” in ‘95 and even though it tanked at the box office, the slapstick comedy eventually found its audience on home video. After that, Smith released the critical and commercially successful indie film “Chasing Amy” in ‘97.

For me, though, my introduction to Smith was through his religious themed raunchfest, “Dogma”, which came out 25 years ago in ‘99. When my brother Jason was home on leave from the Air Force, he was excited to rent “Dogma” because not only was it the latest Smith film, but it was the latest film to feature two recurring characters in Smith’s films at the time: Jay and Silent Bob.

After renting and enjoying the hell out of “Dogma”, Jason quickly got me caught up on Smith’s first three films and another lifelong fan of the director was born.

Bethany, along with Rufus, Serendipity, and Jay & Silent Bob in "Dogma".

In “Dogma”, Bethany Sloane (Linda Fiorentino) works as councilor at an abortion clinic and is also a Catholic that is going through a crisis of faith. One night, she is visited by the Metatron (Alan Rickman), an angel that acts as the voice of God. He tells her that she must stop two angels from entering a church where they will receive plenary indulgence for doing so.

The angels, Loki (Matt Damon) and Bartleby (Ben Affleck), were banished to Earth by God with God saying that they could never return to Heaven. If they are forgiven their sins and enter Heaven, it will undermine God’s omnipotence and the whole universe will be destroyed.

Bethany is not alone in her quest, though, as she is soon joined by two “prophets”: Jay & Silent Bob (Jason Mewes and Smith). They eventually encounter Rufus (Chris Rock), the 13th Apostle, and the angel Serendipity (Salma Hayek) as they try to stop the two angels and the initially mysterious involvement of a demon named Azrael (Jason Lee).

I was a little afraid before I rewatched this movie as to whether or not it would work for me today. Comedies, in general, don’t always hold up well over time. Thankfully, this one holds up just fine as I found myself laughing almost through the whole thing once again.

Jason Lee as Azrael in "Dogma".

I also like the story that does make one question their religion but you don’t feel like you’re being preached to. Smith gives a satirical take on religion that is not too cynical nor does it completely accept the dogmatic teachings of any one religion, particularly Catholicism, the religion Smith belonged to in his youth.

The performances are also great as Damon and Affleck, real life friends, bring their chemistry to the screen. They’re doing bad things and they are technically the main antagonists of the movie, but they are also pawns in a bigger game as well and they have a devilishly good time along the way.

Fiorentino, Rock, Hayek, Rickman, Smith, and Mewes are also great as our main leads. Jay & Silent Bob are funny as hell and while I’ve enjoyed their own starring vehicles, I’ve always felt that Jay & Silent Bob were better as supporting characters than they are as the true stars of the movie.

Of the supporting characters, Rickman is great as the droll Metatron and Rock is great as Rufus. His character gives a particularly good speech in the movie about having an idea over a belief that is probably one of my favorite scenes in the movie.

Matt Damon and Ben Affleck stars as two fallen angels in "Dogma".

Finally, there is Lee as our secondary antagonist and demon Azrael. Lee once again steals the scenes he’s in as he had done in both “Mallrats” and “Chasing Amy” prior to this movie. In fact, my only real criticism of this movie is that I wished I had gotten a little more Azrael in the movie because that’s how much I enjoyed Lee’s performance.

There were rights issues over the past few years that have prevented the movie from being published on home video or made available digitally. Thankfully, I still owned the two-disc special edition DVD and was able to watch the movie. The movie has been uploaded by several people on to YouTube over the years, but eventually they always get taken down for obvious reasons.

Thankfully, Smith recently announced that a company has secured the rights to “Dogma” and they’re planning a big rollout next year that will involve both digital and physical releases. There may even be a new limited theatrical run with Smith touring the movie across the country.

I hope all that ends up happening because I’m still a believer in Smith’s take on religion and I would love to get an updated release for this genuinely great comedy!