Religulous Review

Posted by Bryan Kristopowitz on 10.05.2008

Grow up or die.


Bill Maher- Himself
Directed by Larry Charles
Distributed by Lionsgate
Rated R for some language and sexual material
Runtime- 101 minutes
Website: http://lionsgate.com/religulous/

Ah, yes, religion, one of those things you're not supposed to discuss in "polite company" (politics and "sex" are the other two that I know of. Are there others?). It can be seen as offensive and "bad manners." But then if you're Bill Maher, famous stand-up comedian, host of HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" and a bit of an atheist (or maybe agnostic is a better word), you're not all that interested in whether or not you offend believers, spiritualists, or "people of faith" when you talk about religion and what people believe. In fact, you revel in discussing all of the odd, weird, and absurd little and big things people accept as truth and fact. And you also get scared.

Very, very scared.

"Religulous," Maher's documentary examination/expose on what the world's major monotheistic religions (and a few, shall we say, "lesser" religions, like Scientology and Mormonism) and their devout followers actually believe, is basically Maher travelling the world to find out what it is people really believe. From a Christian trucker's chapel in North Carolina to an Islamic mosque in Holland, to Jerusalem and the Vatican and several points in between, Maher asks the same pointed questions to anyone willing to talk to him: Why do you people believe in these fairy tales, and why are you so stupid? Don't you think this "religious" stuff has done more general harm than good?

As you'd expect, Maher manages to offend pretty much every person he comes in contact with. They, be it Christian or Muslim or Jew or whatever, can't fathom why someone would doubt or "cast an aspersion" on their faith. This is where a majority of the flick's comedy comes from, and it's also the aspect of the flick that's likely to generate a huge heaping of controversy. Maher, and to a lesser extent director Larry "Borat" Charles, aren't "playing fair," essentially asking devout believers on the spot, without preparation, what they believe and why. No one is allowed to present the "other side" of the issue. I think that criticism is a tad invalid in this case as Maher's views are already widely known and absolutely no one involved presents the movie as if its some thoughtful journalistic endeavor, so it's not like Maher and Charles are pulling a fast one on the audience. Everyone knows what they're getting into ahead of time. And, I'd suspect that, even with extensive preparation (like getting some of the questions ahead of time), none of the devout interviewees who end up looking like fools would have fared any better. What else are any of them going to say beyond what they've already said that isn't going to be total nonsense?

The flick's funniest interview is the one Maher does with Mark Pryor, Democratic Congressperson from Arkansas. Pryor can't answer any of Maher's questions, and when he does provide an answer it's incoherent at best. This is also probably the best and smartest interview in the whole movie as it demolishes any potential criticism that Maher and Charles may get from right wing conservatives they they've created an anti-Republican movie (there's file footage towards the beginning featuring John Sidney McCain III proclaiming the United States is a Christian nation and the Constitution is based on the Bible, which is just bullshit). The scariest interview is a toss up between Ken Ham, right wing Christian yahoo who runs a "Creationist Museum" that features exhibits of humans and dinosaurs exisiting at the same time (one dinosaur exhibit has the dinosaur wearing a saddle. Yes, a saddle, like on a freaking horse) and the interview snippets from Europe, where Maher interviews various Muslims about whether or not they have the right to riot and commit violence if they feel as though someone has attacked Islam (we get to see file footage of the Prophet Mohammed cartoon protest riots and the dead body of Dutch director Theo van Gogh, who was murdered after making a short movie condemning violence against women "sanctioned" by the Koran). No one says flat out "no."

So, should you go see "Religulous"? I think you should. I enjoyed the flick quite a bit, but then, as I said above, as a fan of Maher's, I knew what I was essentially getting beforehand. I would encourage everyone to go see it, though, if they get the chance, even if they don't agree with anything Maher advocates. Watch the final segment of the flick, where Maher sums the whole thing up and strongly shows why religion is what's really hindering humanity from progressing. How is Maher wrong?

See it, see it, see it.

So what do we have here? Gratuitous Bill Maher, gratuitous Bill Maher in Megiddo, Israel, home of the End Times, an old religious propaganda movie, a "Hell is real" sign, gratuitous George W. Bush looking like a fool, gratuitous grainy footage of Bill Maher stand-up from the 1980's, pictures of Maher as a child, gratuitous mother and sister of Bill Maher, finding out that Bill Maher's mother was Jewish, gratuitous North Carolina Christian trucker's chapel, discussing the Shroud of Turin, a former alleged Satanic priest, gratuitous interview with a scientist from the Human Genome Project, gratuitous Jonah Hill as a potential teenage Jesus, gratuitous Christian truckers pryaing for Jesus to fix Bill Maher, montage of rich scumbag televangelists asking for money, gratuitous Dr. Jerimiah Cummings, talking about pimps, arguing about whether or not Jesus liked rich people, a car bomb, Bill Maher in Sodom and Gomorrah, gratuitous Fred Phelps and Jerry Falwell talking about fags, gratuitous "reformed" homsexuals, a snippet of gay porno, gratuitous Ted Haggard, hugging a "former" gay guy, an ex-Jew for Jesus, gratuitous John Sidney McCain III saying that America is a Christian nation and that the Constitution is based on the Bible, gratuitous Arkansas Democratic Congressperson Mark Pryor looking like a fool, the Krakken from "Clash of the Titans," gratuitous Ken Ham, gratuitous Chuck Heston kissing an ape, gratuitous Kirk Cameron, Bill Maher going to the Vatican and talking to a Vatican astronomer, gratuitous Robert Blake in "Hell Town," gratuitous Holy Land Experience in Florida with an exclusive interview with Jesus, gratuitous Christian cartoons, gratuitous Bill Maher in "Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death," demolishing Scientology, gratuitous weird stories about Mormonism including Mormon porn, gratuitous non-Zionist Jews, a Spanish Protestant Church where the preacher claims to be second coming of Jesus, gratuitous "Scarface," a pot smoking reverand in Amsterdam, talking to Muslims in Amsterdam, gratuitous Muslim gay bar, burning hair, running a vacuum cleaner in a mosque, talking about the End Times, and Bill Maher telling everyone to grow up or die.

Best lines: "Every family is dysfunctional," "I'm just asking questions," "Thank you for being Christ-like, and not just Christian," "The song did go platinum," "So am I to assume that this is your only two-thousand dollar suit?," "You didn't have a hard on, though, did you?," "This man lived inside a fish for three days?," "You don't have to pass an IQ test to be in the Senate," "The Scriptures are not teaching science," "He is God. Are you God?," "How ridiculous is that? A Jewish carpenter? They call a carpenter," "I don't find this Jew funny," and "Grow up or die."

The 411: "Religulous" isn't for everyone. It's a condemnation of pretty much all of the major relgions and is probably going to offend believers in all of them. But then again, as the movie points out, that's pretty much how it always works. No one can question what people believe, even if it's ridiculous. Bill Maher certainly does try, and I think he suceeds. But, again, your enjoyment of the flick will likely depend heavily on what you believe before going into the theatre. You have been warned.

Final Score:  9.0   [  Amazing ]