Religulous
by Larry Charles
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Bill Maher, Francis Collins, Jonathan Boulden, Steve Burg, Tal BachmanDirector: Larry Charles
Brand: LIONS GATE HOME ENT.
Producer: Bill Maher
Writer: Bill Maher
Producer: Alexandra Lambrinidis
Producer: Alon Tuval
Producer: Charlie Siskel
Producer: Flavia Oertwig
Producer: Jesse Johnston
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language)
Format: AC-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 101 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2009-02-17
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Lions Gate
Movie Reviews of Religulous
Movie Review: Preaching to the Un-Converted
Summary: 5 Stars
I love Bill Maher. I mean, he's easily top five, maybe even top three on my list of Folks I'd Like to Have Dinner With (the others being, ah, Frank Zappa, maybe Gavrilo Prinzip, Joanne Pflug). I think he's very bright, insightful, really funny, and although the hapless folks from this film would disagree, he's actually good-natured and fair with all he comes in contact with. Yeah, he's directly challenging their core religious convictions, and implicitly calling them either fools or charlatans--which most in this film are not quick enough to realize, interestingly enough--but he's fair. There are no ambushes, no shouting matches, no bullying; he's just asking direct and piercing questions, expecting straightforward and honest answers, and challenging the too-quick dissembling, evasive, and nonsensical answers. He has prepared, has read up, and it's clear soon enough that he knows just as much if not more about the subject at hand, something his interviewees are not ready for.
More than anything, I agree with him. I nodded my head all the way through this film. Except, of course, for the times I was shaking my head in pity and disbelief for the things the folks in this movie say they believe.
Unfortunately, where Maher could be delivering a very, very powerful blow against the self-delusion and inherently destructive nature of religion, the film's structure turns it into the equivalent of a business-class road trip, a few smart comedy frat brothers traveling the world to get some good video and goof on religious-types. This aspect of the film takes a lot away from the important thrust of what he's saying.
This film is a confusing mish-mash, part (small) hard-hitting documentary on the dangers of religious dogma and resulting extremism/fanaticism, the other part (much larger) a series of short interviews of those low-level and arguably obscure religious persons who believe they can outwit him. It's interspersed with Dream On-like snippets of film/video/music that deliver sometimes funny and sometimes brutal commentary punctuating Maher's point that religion is illogical, unfair, and just plain ridiculous.
You also get a lot of immediate Maher interview feedback, with the unseen director Larry Charles and Maher having snarky conversations in the car after the event. In these, the two of them sharpshoot, second-guess and goof on the person they were just with. Now, I'm all for outing the religious as the fakers and fools (not mutually exclusive) they are, but this is just unfair. Even Borat didn't goof on his victims after the fact for their actions in his presence.
By the third exchange/interview, it's very clear what is going to happen: after Maher blasts hole after massive, undeniable hole in the Religious Person's belief structure, their only possible responses are: flight (the "insulted" gomer trucker in the first bit), awkward and painful lying, and; the fallback to the unassailable stone wall of unquestioning faith. From senator to preacher to burqa salesman, the interview nuclear option is always the instant step back to God/Allah/Yahweh/Krishna/Your God's Name Here: My religion says that's the way it is, so that's the way it is, holy and direct from god, so no amount of simple, flawless logic or incontrovertible scientific proof--the science that identifies and classifies the oxygen we breathe and the water we drink, for instance--will sway, let alone win the argument. This ultimate bulwark of religious faith was the payoff of the interviews, watching each interviewee progress to that point, realize the corner they had been boxed into, and then watching the pathetic defense choice they would make. You can see it in their eyes, the fear, the indecision, the knowledge that what they are saying really is a lie and/or doesn't make any sense, and then you watch them crumble, and give right in to its repugnant perpetuation.
Maher's bottom-line message in this film is a deadly-serious one, and I couldn't agree with more: in an era where weapons of mass destruction are becoming more and more accessible, and where religious extremism--of all religions--and its attendant intolerance and sanctified calls for cleansing seem to be on the rise, religion poses a very real and immediate threat to the continued existence of humanity.
This is the slowly implied message throughout the film, and it is the bomb he drops (pun intended) at the end of the film, and I couldn't agree more. In the Bronze Age and into the Renaissance, the ability to smite and cast out was limited to bows, arrows, swords, any number of exquisitely purposeful torture devices, the occasional siege engine, trebuchet, etc. That's bad for the unbelievers within the limited range of these items. But now, you can reach out with your God-given ICBM and smite the unbelievers in less than 20 minutes, from the other side of the planet. And you've got your choice of atomics, chemical weapons, or biological weapons. Maher says we unbelievers had better step up and get a pair, and start pushing back against this deluded majority, or we're all done for. I concur.
Bottom Line: If you're a deep and true believer, whatever your faith, this film calls you either a fool or a charlatan. Either way, it'll bother you, likely insult you. If you're a non-believer, you'll agree with the observations here, and it'll frighten you, as it should.
Summary of Religulous
COMEDIAN & TV HOST BILL MAHER TAKES A PILGRIMAGE ACROSS THE GLOBE ON A MIND-OPENING JOURNEY INTO THE ULTIMATE TABOO:QUESTIONING RELIGION.Similar DVD Movies
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