Dogma (1999)

Director:

Kevin Smith

Writer (WGA):

Kevin Smith (written by)

Release Date:

12 November 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Comedy | Fantasy | Mystery

Tagline:

Get 'touched' by an angel.

Plot:

An abortion clinic worker with a special heritage is called upon to save the existence of humanity from being negated by two renegade angels trying to exploit a loophole and re-enter Heaven.

Plot Keywords:

Sequel Mentioned During End Credits | Crisis Of Faith | Profanity | Bar | Loss Of Faith

Awards:

6 nominations

Cast

Ben Affleck	...	Bartleby
Matt Damon	...	Loki
Linda Fiorentino	...	Bethany Sloane
Jason Mewes	...	Jay
Chris Rock	...	Rufus
Alan Rickman	...	Metatron
Jason Lee	...	Azrael
Salma Hayek	...	Serendipity
Kevin Smith	...	Silent Bob
Janeane Garofalo	...	Liz
George Carlin	...	Cardinal Ignatius Glick
Alanis Morissette	...	God
Brian O'Halloran	...	Grant Hicks (as Brian Christopher O'Halloran)
Bud Cort	...	John Doe Jersey
Dan Etheridge	...	St. Stephen's Priest

Also Known As:

Bearclaw (USA) (fake working title)
God (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong language including sex-related dialogue, violence, crude humor and some drug content.

Runtime:

130 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (DeLuxe)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Netherlands:16 (DVD rating) | Singapore:(Banned) | USA:TV-14 (tv rating) | Netherlands:12 | Iceland:16 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Germany:16 (nf) | Hong Kong:IIB | Israel:16 | Malaysia:(Banned) | Norway:15 | South Korea:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:R

Filming Locations:

600 Grant Street, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Company:

View Askew Productions

Trivia:

When they heard Alan Rickman was a Chasing Amy (1997) fan, Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier felt confident enough to ask him to play Metatron. He read the script and came back with only two questions: 1) would we stay faithful to the script, and 2) are the wings real or CGI?

Goofs:

Continuity: The puddle in front of Bethany's car keys after the Stygian Triplets knock her down appears and disappears in between shots.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Announcer: Ladies and Gentlemen, the driving force behind Catholicism WOW, Cardinal Glick.
Cardinal Glick: Thank you, thank you, thank you. Now we all know how the majority and the media in this country view the Catholic church. They think of us as a passe, archaic institution. People find the Bible obtuse... even hokey. Now in an effort to disprove all that the church has appointed this year as a time of renewal...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Chris Rock: Never Scared (2004) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Blue Danube Waltz Opus 314

A Religious Comedy

I am a huge Kevin Smith fan and after seeing this film I can say that it was everything I hoped it would be, and a little bit more. It's extremely well written and directed. The film has the same great comedy we're used to from Kevin Smith, but he shows that he has another dimension that I don't think many people thought was there.

Jay and Silent Bob have their biggest role so far. Jay has some of his laugh out loud funniest one liners yet. But what really makes this a great film is that it is genuinely thought provoking.

There are religious people out there who will criticize this film as being anti religion, anti Catholicism, when it is anything but (well, a little anti Cathlic maybe). The central theme to the film is that there is a God, but not the God that most people know (or think they know) or believe in. The characters in the film are trying to get the message across that people have changed the original God, man has made God into the image they want him/her to be, made their own religious rules, rules that God never intended. From a strictly biblical standpoint, Smith is right on, which is not something that can be said about many films dealing with religion. And isn't that the entire point to Christianity, that it's based on the bible.