(Courtesy The Buzz)

By : Tanya D. Marsh

Dogma has traveled a rocky road to arrive in your local cineplex. Developed by Disney subsidiary Miramax, Dogma's fate was threatened when religious groups were tipped off that this raunchy satire found nothing sacred. Reportedly disturbed by a few choice scenes, Disney chief Michael Eisner "suggested" that Miramax cut their ties to the completed film. Miramax co-chairs Harvey and Bob Weinstein put up $12 million of their own cash to buy the negative from their own company, and finally signed a deal with Lions Gate Films to distribute the flick. Dogma was well worth the wait. It is a thought-provoking meditation on faith and organized religion, but it is also a Kevin Smith movie, which means that it is peppered with absurdity, profanity, and verbal acrobatics.

The premise of Dogma is that after the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Loki, the Angel of Death, and his buddy Bartleby kicked back over a few too many pints. Bartleby, troubled by Loki's gleeful exercise of God's vengeance, convinced his friend to have compassion for the mortals below. Loki marched up to God, resigned his post and gave him the finger. Two events resulted: angels were forbidden from drinking alcohol and Loki and Bartleby were eternally exiled to Wisconsin. After a few millenia in the Midwest, Loki and Bartleby have been tipped off to a loophole in Catholic dogma which will allow them to subvert God's decree and return to Heaven. The only problem? Since we live in a universe based on the belief that God is infallible, if Loki and Bartleby are successful the whole thing falls like a house of cards.

On one level, Dogma is simply a Kevin Smith buddy movie with Loki (Matt Damon) and Bartleby (Ben Affleck) as the central duo. But Dogma, the most ambitious movie ever attempted by Smith, is much more than that. Heaven dispatches a woman named Bethany (Linda Fiorentino), a hithero unknown thirteenth apostle (Chris Rock), a muse (Salma Hayek) and a pair of unlikely prophets, Silent Bob (Kevin Smith) and Jay (Jason Mewes) to stop Loki and Bartleby. Opposing this rag tag team of humans and celestial beings is a disgruntled demon named Azrael (Jason Lee) and the hockey stick wielding Stygian Triplets.

Smith put together an amazing cast for Dogma, including Alan Rickman as the Voice of God and George Carlin as Cardinal Glick. Everyone is solid in this movie, but Affleck's character of Bartleby is the linchpin and he gives a subtle, expressive performance. There is a distinct rhythm to Kevin Smith's dialogue and, unlike his earlier films, everyone delivers their lines naturally. That's one of the benefits, I suppose, of finally hiring an entire cast of professional actors. In this seasoned cast of veterans, there are three exceptions. Jason Mewes reprises the only role he has ever played: Silent Bob's verbose "hetero life partner" Jay. You never really know if the unpredictable Mewes, a childhood friend of Smith, is speaking written lines or just making it up as he goes along. In Dogma, he is given a lot of screen time and more than lives up to the challenge. As a reward to fans of Clerks, both Brian O'Halloran and Jeff Anderson have small roles in this film. The best part is, in Smith's Faulkner-like New Jersey universe, both could be playing the same characters they portrayed in Clerks.

When Loki and Bartleby walk into the Mooby corporate headquarters to enforce what they imagine to be God's vengeance, it's pretty clear why Disney didn't want to distribute this movie. Smith isn't exactly subtle in his portrayal of a grasping multi-media conglomerate built on a cartoon character. Golden calf, Mickey Mouse, what's the dif? Dogma is an indictment of America's misguided worship on the altar of materialism, a viewpoint which wouldn't exactly endear it to Eisner and company. Cardinal Glick's sincere but extremely disturbing "Catholicism Wow!" campaign is also a comment on America's spiritual decadence. His effort to replace the "depressing" crucifix with a jazzed-up "Buddy Christ" reflects a country that has replaced religion with commerce, faith with self-help books.

Kevin Smith is a Catholic, and Dogma is his attempt to deal with his own questions of faith. While it is true that Smith blasts open very sensitive issues, Dogma is less an attack on the Catholic Church than an open letter to the American Catholic community, provoking discussion. Smith raises questions but doesn't provide neat answers. In the end, those who experienced crises of faith are renewed and those who felt betrayed by God receive forgiveness. Smith's observations, as expressed through a number of characters, are typical of a large number of American Catholics who still love the Church but feel that it is losing relevance in their lives. Conservative Catholic groups protested at the New York premiere of Dogma and a boycott is brewing. That's a shame. Ultimately, despite its irreverence and profanity, Dogma is about the renewal of faith and despite the packaging, that's a message everybody can use.