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:

God | Angel | Abortion | Clinic | Abortion Clinic

Awards:

6 nominations

Cast

Bud Cort	...	John Doe Jersey
Barret Hackney	...	Stygian Triplet (as Barrett Hackney)
Jared Pfennigwerth	...	Stygian Triplet
Kitao Sakurai	...	Stygian Triplet
George Carlin	...	Cardinal Glick
Brian O'Halloran	...	Reporter (as Brian Christopher O'Halloran)
Betty Aberlin	...	Nun
Matt Damon	...	Loki
Ben Affleck	...	Bartleby
Dan Etheridge	...	Priest @ St. Stephen's
Linda Fiorentino	...	Bethany
Derek Milosavljevic	...	Kissing Couple
Lesley Braden	...	Kissing Couple
Marie Elena O'Brien	...	Clinic Girl (scenes deleted) (as MarieElena O'Brien)
Janeane Garofalo	...	Liz

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

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Netherlands:16 (DVD rating) | Argentina:16 | Netherlands:12 | Singapore:(Banned) | USA:TV-14 (tv rating) | Philippines:R-18 | Brazil:18 | Australia:MA | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A (Canadian Home Video rating) | 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 Azrael is urging Silent Bob to use the golf club on him, he repeats lines from The Howling (1981): Go ahead, take it. Consider it a gift. Take it, bright boy.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: When God is preparing to clean up the mess made by Bartleby at the end of the movie, the call letters on the news van behind her read "KREL". A TV or radio station in New Jersey would have call letters starting with a W. "K" is reserved for stations west of the Mississippi River.

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:

References Home Alone (1990)

Soundtrack:

Still

Great film, not up to the standard of Smith's previous work

Those of you who are fans of Kevin Smith's previous works (Clerks, Mallrats & Chasing Amy)may find this area familiar in some parts and unnerving and perhaps even commercial by comparison. Dogma sees fallen angels Bartleby and Loki (Ben Affleck and Matt Damon)attempting to make their way back into heaven via a newly instituted catholic dogma. The problem with this lies in the fact that if they are successful, they would have overturned a ruling by God, hence God is always right and if proven wrong would result in the undoing of existence. The familiar presence of Jay and Silent Bob is comforting and ensures that some of the essence Smith's earlier work stays put, however at times this film dissents into areas that seem out of Smith's depth. There are some surprisingly touching moments which implies that Smith gave a great deal of thought, similar to that of Chasing Amy. In general it is a great all round cast, (Linda Fiorentino,Chris Rock, Alan Rickman) and it is obvious that whilst writing this Smith had his tongue firmly in cheek.