Hey folks, Harry here with a decoded chart of 0s and 1s from none other than that malfunctioning butane tank with air conditioning hoses for arms... Robogeek. It also seems as though Robogeek ran across a theater going arsehole and due to his Asimov restrictions, could not do away with him. Sigh... Poor Robo. Anyways... here's Robogeek....

ROBOGEEK REVIEWS "DOGMA" AND "THE MESSENGER"

DOGMA

Praise be to God!

For Tylenol.

After seeing "Dogma" last night, I emerged with a splitting headace -- not a result of the film, but of the punkass sitting next to me. Let me elaborate, as this provides an important disclaimer to my review, and explains how my filmgoing experience was tainted.

There was this incredibly annoying peck who was incessently laughing as hard and as loud as he could at every single thing in the movie that was even marginally humorous. (For comparison, I found myself compelled to laugh out loud twice during the film.)

This bantha poo-doo -- clad in a ridiculous burgandy velvet shirt -- just had to announce to the world that he "got" every single joke and every single reference in the film. I seriously wanted to impale him in the neck with my trusty SpacePen, and then see if I could write upside-down on the inside of his trachea.

Later, I discovered that this monkey boy was in fact a friend of Quint's -- which... well, nevermind. I also discovered that he's been asked to leave the Alamo Drafthouse _twice_ for being excessively loud -- which has got to rank pretty high among scarlet letters of uncoolness, right up there with saying "I'm first!" in a Talk Back posting. Pathetic.

So, anyway, to be fair, I just wanted to make you aware of the conditions under which I saw this film, which may have negatively biased my opinion and hindered my enjoyment.

Let me start with the positive. "Dogma" is easily Kevin Smith's most ambitious film, and his most complex. It is a comic fantasy, and certainly not something needing to be protested. At its best, "Dogma" is an inspired celebration of ideas, and a clever examination of faith.

And while not exactly a love letter to the Catholic Church, the film is ultimately about the triumph of faith over cynicism -- sort of. Aside from a lot of Smith's usually colorful language, there's really not much for an open-minded audience member to be offended by in this film. And I'm always troubled when people rush to protest something they haven't even seen, especially when there are far more worthy objects of their attention.

As a point of reference, I should mention that I'm no Kevin Smith expert, nor a hard-core fan. I guess I'm just outside the target demographic. But I loved "Chasing Amy," and saw it twice. His other films I find equal parts mildly entertaining and intermittently annoying, but that's just me.

"Dogma" may very well please most Smith loyalists, which my noisy neighbor is apparently one of. After the screening, he exclaimed to his male companion, "it just doesn't get any better than that!" Well, unfortunately, I must disagree. It does indeed get much better, believe me.

Let me just say that the rest of this review may come across as harsh, but it's not what I intend. I liked the movie, I enjoyed quite a bit of it. But I also found myself frustrated and bored in equal measure. Overall, its reach exceeds its grasp, and it lacks the focus and coherence of, say, "Chasing Amy," which I thought quite effectively examined gender and sexuality issues while having an involving story and workable structure. "Dogma" fails to strike a similar balance between story/structure and a philosophical discourse.

Some critics seem to be able to separate story and structure from entertainment value, but I think they are intrinsically linked. To me, a film that fails in the story and structure departments is not entertaining, but annoying.

There are basically three things that kept "Dogma" from working for me. (Now, before all you Kevin Smith fans attack me in Talk Back, please a.) go see the film, and b.) respect that I'm entitled to my opinion.)

1.) The plot is hopelessly convoluted, burdened with buckets of awkward exposition that are incessently dumped on the audience. There are long streches of the movie that feel like a post-modern theology lecture, interrupted intermittently by real drama. Most of the film feels like an intellectual exercise rather than a movie, miring the audience in tedium and performances that often feel forced (especially Jason Lee's).

Now, that said, the ideas the film explores are indeed fascinating and clever, but they just overwhelm the film and diffuse the narrative -- and seem better suited to a literary rather than visual medium. For the film to work, I think these concepts needed to be more tightly focused, rather than wildly unleashed from a grab-bag. It's just too much to rein in for a single, coherent movie, and it sets up barriers between the audience and the film, creating a detachment and making the characters distant. Which leads to my second problem...

2.) The film lacks an emotional point of entry for the audience, or a strong poing of view. Who is this film about? A whole lot of people. What is it about? An awful lot of stuff. It's just spread too thin, at the sacrifice of depth.

There are opportunites for depth presented, though. When we _finally_ get to Bethany's revelation (which takes _way_ too long to get to, after _far_ too much set-up; you can see it coming a mile away, and it's frustrating to wait around for it), I thought "hey, finally -- some real drama, something really meaty for the character to delve into; here's what the movie must be about!" But that ball is just sort of dropped, and that plot thread not sufficiently developed.

Similarly, there's a great scene in a parking garage between Loki and Bartleby, in which I had a similar thought: "wow, here we go -- some real nitty-gritty conflict." But, again, it's a great set-up of dramatic substance that isn't followed through to its obvious potential. Each of these could have provided a fulcrum on which to mount the entire dramatic arc of the film -- which I think would have been brilliant -- but neither is committed to. A film about Bethany's conflict of faith, or a film about two fallen angels trying to get back to heaven -- either one of those would have been fantastic. But neither was effectively delivered, which I found very frustrating.

Until the ending scene, when God finally appears, I never connected emotionally to the film. The casting of God, which has been much maligned, actually works wonders for me. In fact, I think it's inspired and perfect. You-know-who communicates so much unexpected wonder with a look, a smile, a gesture. But then, consistent with my first problem with the film, the movie takes too long to end (lots of scenes take too long, especially the board room scene, which seemingly goes on forever). So instead of ending on a high note, the film just sort of peters out and falls flat.

Which leads to my third problem...

3.) The film lacks style -- at least the style I personally feel requisite for this type of film. For me, the film needed to be either a.) an expansive fantasy epic of stylized splendor, or b.) a small, magical, intimate, spiritual fable. Stylistically, the film feels flat and drab, from the score to the cinematography to, well, sorry, but... direction.

Sure, the casting is a treat, and yes, a lot of the dialogue is fun. But the issues at the heart of the film require a sense of grandeur and majesty -- after all, we're dealing with The Divine, here, even if juxtaposed with the mundane. So why is there no sense of awe and wonder in the film, no exquisite grace? Which brings me to...

THE MESSENGER

"The Messenger," on the other hand, is abundant with grandeur and majesty -- resplendently so. It is the most gorgeous movie I've seen this year, and while not quite a truly _great_ film, it is (I think) as misunderstood as its main character.

Time for another disclaimer: I am a long-time, devoted admirer of Luc Besson, and have seen "Subway" more than any other film (I lost count at 137), though I make no attempt to defend it on a critical level. It just makes me giddy. Besson is easily one of my favorite directors, and ranks for me alongside James Cameron, though not in the upper echelon of my two personal film gods (Kieslowski and Miyazaki). Besides making incredibly cool movies, I feel Besson is, without question, one the great stylistic directors working today.

That talent in unleashed in bold new directions in this film, which is about as different as possible from his last one, "The Fifth Element" (which I also loved). "The Messenger" is an amazing and potent film, at times absolutely enthralling and deeply moving.

Sure, it has its flaws and problems. Why don't all the French characters have French accents, for instance? That's certainly a distraction. And, given the very (true) story the film is telling, there are some structural handicaps inherent to the narrative. But overwhelming them all is a focused, compelling tale of a visionary, who is caught up in two wars.

The first is a physical war, between Joan's beloved France and England. The second is a spiritual war, between her faith and doubt -- both her own doubt, and the doubts of other. It is a mesmerizing journey, and an unforgettable character, brilliantly realized.

A lot of people seem to be picking on Milla Jovovich's performance as Joan -- many of whom haven't even seen it yet. They are on crack. It is a fantastic performance. Her relationship with the director and the fact she also happens to be a model has nothing to do with anything. Joan is a young woman imbued with the word of God, and Jovovich portrays that convincingly. I can think of very, very few actresses who could have pulled off as strong a performance in this particular role.

In his review, Harry drew and excellent comparison between this film and "The Thin Red Line," which I agree with. Most people may be expecting this to be a "Braveheart," and a more straight-forward historical war epic. Well, that's only half the film. What the film is really about is a little girl who is touched by Divinity, and thus burdened with a wondrous and terrifying destiny. It is the journey of this girl that we are taken on, and it's both absolutely amazing and profoundly compelling.

The cast is strong across the board -- especially Dustin Hoffman's haunting turn as a character whose true nature has been spoiled in too many reviews, and should be left to the viewer's interpretation. I also particulary liked John Malkovich and Tcheky Karyo -- though I admittedly like them in just about everything.

Production values for the film are top-notch, with stand-out work from cinematographer Thierry Arbogast and composer Eric Serra, though frankly everything from production design, costumes, and sets to editing and sound are highly impressive.

I should note that this film is rated R for very good reason, and has some incredibly brutal violence.

My advice, go see "The Messenger" if you are prepared to be challenged, transported, and amazed. Go see "Dogma" if you're a hard-core Kevin Smith fan. Otherwise, your filmgoing priority right now should probably be "The Insider," which I didn't have a chance to review before its release, but found absolutely mesmerizing. Similarly, if you're an animation and/or fantasy fan who lives in a city where it's playing, you must go see Hayao Miyazaki's brilliant and spellbinding "Princess Mononoke." I also highly recommend David Lynch's gorgeous "The Straight Story," and of course "Being John Malkovich" -- even though I have yet to see it. (Oh, and I'd avoid "The Bone Collector," which is an annoying jumble of red herrings and cheap scares, redeemed only by the charisma of leads Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie.)

Oh, one more thing -- I had the pleasure of interviewing Neil Gaiman last month, but got side-tracked by the universe since and haven't had the chance to post it yet. I hope to be able to share that with you soon. In the meantime, go by his stunning new Sandman graphic novel "The Dream Hunters," illustrated by Yoshitaka Amano.

Have a good weekend,

-- robogeek@robogeek.com

P.S.: We may not have e-commerce on AICN, yet, but in the meantime visit Robogeek's Cabana of Capitalism on ebay, where you'll currently find a Sony VX1 3-CCD Hi8 Handycam Pro, a Sony EV-C200 Hi8 VCR / editing deck, a Sony TR91 SteadyShot Video8 camcorder, lots of cool laserdiscs and comics... and a PHANTOM OF THE PARADISE helmet/mask!
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