REVIEW COURTESY 'COMING ATTRACTIONS'

DOGMA REVIEW

We've been really looking forward to seeing Dogma ever since reading Kevin Smith's script two years ago. That's why when this reviewer sent us their email we were left scratching our heads. With the nearly-universal acclaim for Smith's script circulating around all corners of the Internet, there hasn't been much in the way we've seen of negative reviews of the Dogma project, be it reviews of the script or the finished film. But now we've received a slightly negative review of the film from a scooper who claims to have seen the finished product last month at the Cannes Film Festival. In their email to us 'Mr. Fruit' explained why he didn't enjoy Smith's latest offering...

"So, here we are again with this dogma thing. I've just read that the Weinstein bros. has made a step by sending to the 350,000 members of the Catholic league some mail signed by their lawyers stipulating that they would be held for responsibles of any damages happening during the release of the film. At last a good thing boys...

"Anyway, I'm not sure this release will make any religious noise outside USA. Why? Because Dogma, as seen in Cannes, is an incredibly shaky movie who take up some challenge by making it looks like a 15 millions $ Troma movie !!

"Let me explain this point of view :

"Ok, Dogma's postulate is some daring gesture, with its 13th black apostle, muse retrained as a stripper, God as Alanis Morissette, Jesus heiress working in abortion clinic, demonic skaters, Monster made of shit and other cool ideas but it's still a movie here and Mr. Smith as witty as he could be in his script hasn't been capable of having some witty directing ideas. Dogma is too long, too messy. Don't forget folks are here, waiting for apocalypse. And what we get here ? Chat, chat and more chat about Star Wars or any 'cool movie from the past' by Jay & Silent Bob, chat about angels sexuality by Mrssrs. Damon & Affleck, and chat about the litterally groundbreaking voice of God. Uh-oh, who could have guessed that Dogma might be a reading of a new version of the Bible made in a Farrelly-like way?

"Though, Dogma gets some good moments like this creepy spree killing made by the renegade angels at the end of the movie, or the way they treated an adulterous couple in a bus, or some CEO of a cartoon and attraction park company ‹(Was there a hidden message for Disney's chairmans?‹) and some good parts like Fiorentino's or Rickman's. But who can reasonably believe in a movie like this one mixing spoof jokes, gross (which don't mean bad) humor and some audacious food for thoughts, some really good questions about religion that so few movies ask for.

"On a technical point of view, I'm sorry to say that Dogma's got some major problems too. As some scenes are truly great, others as so pathetic they're way, way too long or disturbed by this junky, real pain the ass, music.

"Anyway and strangely, these major defaults make Dogma unique movie in its genre, as smart as lousy, as funny as pathetic, kind of thing you don't see often in a moviegoer's life. And more than that, when this fuckin' Catholic rage seems to be already heard about this effectively blasphemous movie, Dogma has to be protected, to be talked about just because its right to preach tolerance, which is some word that these morons in those kinds of Leagues don't seem to know.

"For having seen the faces of press people leaving the Cannes press screening (more than half of them left before halfway through the movie), I'm quite sure that Dogma won't make so much noise in Europe. As I'm quite sure that it will find some difficulties to get wide release, because of its status of strange object."