Word: though
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...organization was responsible for convincing Disney, the original distributor, to drop the movie, arguing that it was blasphemous and immoral. Smith, himself a practicing Catholic, assures that the film was made with the utmost respect, but every fan knows that irreverence is the hallmark of his Jersey flicks. Dogma, though not always pro-religion, is consistently pro-faith...
...13th Apostle who was left out of the Bible because he was black, a muse named Serendipity (Salma Hayek), and who other than Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith himself) as prophets, Bethany gets plenty of attention. This holy brigade isn't exactly brimming with talented actors; Rock, though funny, regurgitates instead of speaks his lines, and Salma's stripping muse seems superfluous until you remember that Smith's core audience is teenagers. Fiorentino is the only actor among her heavenly posse, and she handles her role as the skeptical "last Scion" in a way that puts the comic...
...does best. He is foremost a writer; he is out to tell a story, hoping to present new and thought-provoking ideas along the way. Unfortunately, he packs so many ideas into Dogma that his directing cannot always keep up with the ambitious screenplay. At times you feel as though you're listening to the Word according to Kevin; not an expert on subtlety, his characters--particularly Rufus-- windily spell out every religious insight he introduces. It shouldn't be a surprise Smith relies so heavily on dialog. He is incapable of communicating his ideas using any other cinematic mechanism...
...Though not conveyed in the most ingenious manner, these themes in Dogma remain provocative, to say the least. They often take the form of shots at the church (to lessen the ennui, a churchgoer reads "Hustler" during a service Bethany attends), but never do they lead to God-bashing. You see, Smith doesn't satirize God, per se--he satirizes the inadequate human perception of God. Our quest to interpret the will of the divine has lead humans to murder, war, persecution, suspicion, and a bevy of other moral wrongs. The funny (and much less extreme) situation that Smith uses...
...best thing about God's anthropomorphism is that it adds to the poignancy of Bartelby's situation. Though it is Bethany's struggle with faith that is supposed to be the centerpiece for Dogma, it is Bartelby's that proves much more intriguing. Metaphysics aside, his story is about a rebellious, frustrated child. Throughout most of the movie, Bartelby is the voice of reason, constantly rolling his eyes at Loki's own version of divine justice ("You didn't say 'God bless you' when I sneezed" Loki chastises, pulling a gun on an innocent woman). But after a theological discussion...