Imagine Richard Dawkins armed with a smirk and some jokes and you'll have some notion of the tack Bill Maher takes in director Larry Charles' (Borat) documentary Religulous, a jovial but ultimately quite serious assault on the three major forms of monotheism that dominate Western religion (with sideswipes at the Mormon faith and Scientology). Maher's most consistent target is Christian fundamentalism, with mainstream Judaism and Catholicism handled fairly gently and Islam even more gingerly treated. The basic methodology finds Maher interviewing various folks—including religious truckers; workers, performers, and visitors at a “Holy Land” theme park; an imam talking about the Koran; an evangelical politician; the head of a ministry that aims to “cure” gays; an incendiary Muslim rapper—with a supposedly open mind, although his questions are clearly designed to reveal what he considers absurd positions. All of the interview material is jazzed up—with excerpts from movies and TV shows, as well as still photos—that serve as counterpoint and offer not-so-subtle digs. Maher adopts the pose of a sympathetic interviewer, but in the end offers a strident critique about what he sees as the genuine real-world dangers created by religion. Recommended. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by host Bill Maher and director Larry Charles, 21 minutes of deleted scenes, 19 minutes of Maher's “Monologues From Around the World,” and trailers. Bottom line: a fine extras package for a solid comedy doc.] (F. Swietek)
Religulous
Lionsgate, 101 min., R, DVD: $29.99, Feb. 17 Volume 24, Issue 2
Religulous
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
Order From Your Favorite Distributor Today: