DOGMA — ** — Linda Fiorentino, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Chris Rock, Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith, Alan Rickman, Salma Hayek, Jason Lee, George Carlin; rated R (profanity, violence, vulgarity, gore, drug use, brief nudity, racial epithets); Century Theatres 16; Loews Cineplex Broadway Centre, Holladay Center, Midvalley and South Towne Center Cinemas.
THE MESSENGER: THE STORY OF JOAN OF ARC — ** — Milla Jovovich, John Malkovich, Dustin Hoffman, Faye Dunaway, Pascal Greggory, Vincent Cassel, Tcheky Karyo; rated R (violence, gore, profanity, rape, vulgarity); Carmike 12, Cottonwood Mall and Ritz 15 Theaters; Century Theatres 16; Loews Cineplex Midvalley, Trolley Corners and Trolley North Cinemas; Megaplex 17 at Jordan Commons.
Faith is a tricky thing to explain, much less present on film.
But that hasn't stopped filmmakers from trying. And frankly, the results haven't been encouraging.
For every classic like "The Ten Commandments," there have been at least two or three not-so-classic movies, like "Jesus Christ Superstar."
Two new films — one that's already been the subject of protests and another that comes from an equally loathed-and-loved filmmaker — fit into the latter category:
The world probably won't come to an end with the release of "Dogma." In fact, the only thing that's likely to end is filmmaker Kevin Smith's string of minor box-office successes.
Smith's newest comedy has been no stranger to controversy — members of the Catholic League picketed screenings at the recent New York Film Festival. However, all that did was bring added attention to what is, frankly, an erratic and only sporadically interesting movie.
Smith ("Clerks," "Chasing Amy") has always been a better screenwriter than director, and here even his writing instincts fail him. "Dogma" is filled with interesting, thought-provoking concepts, but the script never manages to explore them with any degree of depth, and the humor rarely rises above junior-high locker-room level.
Linda Fiorentino stars as Bethany, who works in a Planned Parenthood clinic and who has lost her faith in Catholicism and religion in general. But all that is about to change in a hurry.
Bethany receives a visitation from Metatron (Alan Rickman), an angelic messenger of God who tells her that she is the last direct descendant of Christ. He also charges her with stopping two fallen angels, Bartleby (Ben Affleck) and Loki (Matt Damon), who are threatening to "undo" reality — if they can exploit an ecclesiastical loophole and be "forgiven" by the church, which would allow them to return to heaven.
Fortunately, Bethany isn't alone in her quest. Joining her are two "prophets," actually stoners Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith himself), who have appeared in all of Smith's films; loud-mouthed Rufus (Chris Rock), who claims to be the 13th apostle; and Serendipity (Salma Hayek), a muse-turned-stripper.
As you can tell, the film treats its religious material in Smith's typically irreverent fashion. And in the beginning — which includes a very funny bit about attempts to make the Catholic Church "hipper" — he manages to balance that with some insight.
But after the film's first third, the material peters out, and any cleverness is replaced with cheap, stupid humor, much of which comes from the mouth of the tiresome Mewes, who's at his worst here.
Smith is also in need of a good editor. At more than two hours, the film feels padded — there's a scene in a strip club and a Disney parody that serve no real purpose, and some other sequences run on far too long.
To his credit, the filmmaker has compiled quite a talented cast. Fiorentino is perfectly feisty and confused as Bethany, and it's good to see on-screen nice guys Affleck and Damon playing villains for a change.
The supporting performers nearly upstage them, though. Rickman provides much-needed humor in a handful of scenes, Rock's character actually has the most insightful moments, and even Smith garners a few laughs in a (mostly) non-speaking part.
"Dogma" is rated R for considerable profanity, violent carnage and gunplay, use of crude sexual slang terms and other questionable humor, gore, simulated drug use (marijuana), brief male nudity and some nude artwork, and use of racial epithets.
What good is a message if no one understands it?
Someone probably needed to pose that question to director Luc Besson before he made "The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc," a good-looking but vacant biography that manages to muddle the politics of the time period and call into question the state of mind of a revered historical figure.
Besson also directs the film in characteristically bombastic fashion — so much so that the violence resembles a cross between earlier filmed versions of the tale and "Braveheart" and with some strangely contemporary aspects as well.
And some of his casting choices are a bit suspect, particularly that of his ex-wife Milla Jovovich, who plays the title character as fervent and possibly deranged.
The movie picks up Joan's story when she is a pre-teen and witnessed the rape and murder of her older sister at the hands of English invaders (shown in disturbingly graphic fashion). However, that violent act actually strengthens her belief in God and her resolve to help her country repel English forces.
Flash forward a few years, by which time Joan has become an underground legend of sorts. The charismatic teen offers to aid the Dauphin, Charles VII (John Malkovich), become the rightful leader of France — if only he'll give her an army.
To the surprise of those in his court, Charles agrees to do just that. And what's more, she leads his army to victory at Orleans, ending the long English occupation of that village.
But as her legend grows, so does her support and her resolve. Though she wearies of bloodshed, Joan continues to fight and even begins losing some of the battles. Unbeknownst to her, the newly crowned Charles is pushing for a "diplomatic" solution to the warfare, and Joan is becoming an obstacle.
Besson, who co-wrote the script with Andrew Birkin, plays fast and loose with "historical" fact, as intrigue takes a backseat to bloody battle re-creations. (A clumsy scroll of explanatory information, written in hard-to-read Old English typeface, doesn't help).
Ditto the film's over-the-top performances. Jovovich makes the title character a cipher, while conflicting accents sported by her fellow castmates (including Malkovich, Vincent Cassel and Dustin Hoffman) are simply ludicrous.
"The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc" is rated R for violent, gruesome warfare (sword battles and arrow fire), considerable gore, profanity, simulated rape and use of some crude slang.