Even though it was heavily steeped in controversy before and during its release, Kevin Smith\u2019s Dogma <\/em>has unfortunately become one of the forgotten films of 1999, aka The Greatest Movie Year in the History of the World Holla If You Hear Me! And, of course, Harvey Weinstein is mostly to blame for that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The New Jersey filmmaker\u2019s R-rated religious opus had been in Weinstein\u2019s possession ever since he bought it, after his former bosses at Disney demanded that he get rid of it. (He later sold theatrical rights to then-young upstart Lionsgate and home-video rights to Sony.) Still smarting from the Priest<\/em><\/a> shitstorm a few years prior, Disney didn\u2019t want to deal with another movie that made Christian advocacy groups like The Catholic League froth at the mouth. The League condemned the film, even before they caught one frame of it (they claimed they read the script, which was floating around online). This prompted other God-fearing folk to follow suit<\/a>. Legend has it that Weinstein showed Smith about ten thousand letters\u2019 worth of hate mail. One so-called Christian group sent Miramax a threatening anti-Semetic missive that began, \u201cYou Hollywood Jewish sons of bitches\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Released during a time when multiplexes were actually filled with provocative, shit-stirring cinema (Fight Club<\/em>? Three Kings<\/em>? Boys Don\u2019t Cry<\/em>? I can keep going), Dogma<\/em> was Smith\u2019s most ambitious, anarchic project to date. He rounded up an all-star cast for this farcical, foul-mouthed commentary on organized religion. Then-It Boys Matt Damon and Ben Affleck star as Loki and Bartleby, two ex-angels who were banished from Heaven by God for insubordination and sent to live for eternity on Earth \u2013 Milwaukee, specifically. When they learn that a New Jersey cardinal (George Carlin, amusingly opportunistic) is rededicating his church and offering a plenary indulgence (read: all sins will be forgiven) for those who enter its doors, the pair sees this as their opportunity to return home. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile in Illinois, cynical, faith-questioning abortion clinic counselor Bethany (\u201890s screen siren Linda Fiorentino) gets called on by God\u2019s spokesperson Metatron (Alan Rickman \u2013 RIP) to hit the road and stop them. She won\u2019t be alone on her journey; Metatron informs her that she\u2019ll be joined by two \u201cprophets,\u201d who turn out to be recurring Smith regulars Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith, of course). Along the way, they also get help from Rufus (Chris Rock), the 13th apostle, coming back to Earth to clear up that whole was-Jesus-really-Black thing; and Serendipity (Salma Hayek), the famed muse who\u2019s now on Earth working as a stripper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n By melding low-brow humor with moments of critical, theological commentary, Dogma<\/em> is Smith at his most crass and<\/em> most cerebral. It\u2019s the only God-related movie out there where one of the villains is a \u201cshit demon,\u201d made up of the pain, misery and human excrement of those who were crucified (along with Jesus) at Golgotha. Scatalogical monsters aside, Smith gives nearly everyone in the cast a show-stopping monologue where they rant on how mankind \u2014 and man-made religion \u2014 has screwed up the whole love-thy-neighbor vibe God (played very briefly by a quiet, kooky Alanis Morrissette) was going for when She made us pesky humans. (With most of her role consisting of her listening and reacting to these monologues, this may explain why Fiorentino \u2014 who butted heads with Smith during filming \u2014 gives such a snotty, petulant performance.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not only did Smith dare to go all raunchy on religion, he also took some potshots at the entertainment conglomerate that almost released the movie. During their trip to Jersey, the angels make a vengeful visit to the headquarters of a Disney-like empire (their mascot is a golden calf named Mooby) where former angel of death Loki plans to wipe out its morally reprehensible executives. (How much are you willing to bet that the Disney brass was more pissed about that than the God stuff?)<\/p>\n\n\n\n The $10 million Dogma<\/em> grossed a respectable $43.9 million worldwide. Many critics sang its praises; in his glowing Entertainment Weekly<\/em> rave<\/a>, Owen Gleiberman wrote, \u201cThis deliriously audacious, one-of-a-kind satirical passion play is as rascally in its glee as anything in Mad<\/em> magazine, yet it\u2019s also a searching and obsessive meditation on faith in our time.\u201d According to Gleiberman, the only obscene thing about the picture is how cruddy it looks. He does have a point; Smith may be a master at crafting clever, down-to-Earth dialogue, but the man has a notoriously lazy eye, mostly filming everything in shot\/reverse shots and calling it a day. (Despite having longtime Wes Anderson cinematographer Robert Yeoman DP this thing, Smith and producer\/co-editor Scott Mosier chop this up to a visually clunky finish.) It also made a killing on home video, where it sold a whopping million DVDs. In Peter Biskind\u2019s Down and Dirty Pictures<\/em>, Smith complained how he didn\u2019t see a gotdamn dime of that box-office\/home video money. \u201cHarvey and [little bro] Bob made out like fuckin\u2019 bandits on Dogma<\/em>,\u201d he griped. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Over the years, Smith has been predictably vocal about trying to get what he calls his most personal film away from Weinstein\u2019s withering, nasty-ass grasp. A year ago, during one of his \u201cAn Evening with Kevin Smith\u201d shows at a California resort and casino<\/a>, he said that Weinstein was basically holding the film hostage, opting for a heavy paycheck to cover his legal fees. Smith made an offer for a million dollars (Affleck and Damon chipped in), but Weinstein wouldn\u2019t budge. \u201cI think he\u2019s waiting for five million bucks,\u201d he told the audience, \u201dand I don\u2019t have that and none of my friends want to give that to him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He may have failed to buy back what he calls his most personal film, but Kevin Smith fan (and Jersey girl) Alessandra Williams not only got Dogma<\/em> away from Weinstein, but she also scooped up the 1995 powderkeg Kids<\/em> (another controversial film Disney forced Weinstein to dump that we\u2019ll get into next month) and several other titles that were also in Weinstein purgatory. \u201cAt age 10 she watched Dogma<\/em> \u2013 her mom let her watch Dogma<\/em> and she fell in love with the movie,\u201d Smith recently said<\/a> on The Mike Calta Show<\/em>. \u201cShe convinced somebody to buy that tranche of films away from that dude, sold off all the movies just to hold on to Dogma<\/em>, just to bring out into the world again.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/dogma2-1024x512.jpg\")
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