Review: Religulous

'Religulous' is one of those 'documentaries' that seems more like stand-up comedy. As Bill Maher, the main man of this production says, he is not promoting atheism. He is promoting doubt. His talks with authorities of various religions, as well as a few scientists, are entertaining, but the film crams in a huge epiphany toward the end. It seems like Bill Maher had his film done, but a studio exec said to him, "Bill, this is funny, but what does it mean?!" This is a touch of death to most works of art, and that situation applies here as well.

Maher himself was brought up in a 50/50 house, split between Judaism and Catholicism. He rags on all religions, some we are familiar with the origins of (Christianity, Catholicism, etc), some we, in the West, aren't too familiar with (Islam, etc.). The film gets joy by pointing out obvious contradictions and flaws of the Bible to religious fanatics and seeing how they fumble as they try to defend themselves. One example is how nowhere in the Bible does it say Jesus was born of a virgin. Apparently, this was all made up. His logic is that this does seem like something so significant that... why would the people who wrote the New Testament leave it out? If it was even remotely true, it wouldn't have been.

Anyone who knows me knows that I think God is (to steal from Daniel Plainview) a superstition. While I enjoy seeing Maher make jokes and poke fun at religious inconsistencies, it seems that, spare a Jesus impersonator, none of his opponents are worthy of a debate. This Jesus impersonator can keep up with Maher (whether his arguments hold water is up to you--I think not), and at least he has answer for all of the questions. Unfortunately, most people don't. They misquote scripture or contradict themselves, which is humorously accented by constant splices to films, movies, scientific authorities, religious authorities, or even simple subtitles.

The problem with these constant interruptions is that they only contribute to the actual film about 40% of the time. The other 60% are just wasted space. Maybe they needed a way to break the 90 minute runtime barrier. Who knows? Regardless, the choice is poor. Overusing anything effective effectively kills it. If I type every sentence with an exclamation point, not only would it seem like I'm shouting, but they would lose their effect. However, if save the use of the exclamation point for one really important idea, people will notice it, and there will be a 'wow' factor. In 'Religulous,' Maher uses exclamation points at the end of every sentence.

At least the film does not take itself too seriously. The camera crew is constantly visible, which is a good choice here. If we were watching Maher lecture us straight for 100 minutes it would be monotonous. We are constantly reminded that this is a documentary and not a film for a theology class, which I can imagine makes people who would normally be offended feel more comfortable.

I spoke of the ending. It escalates to a tremendous wave of 'religion causes death and destruction.' That point may be true, and maybe people do become terrorists for their religion. But that feels not only out of place in this film, but so rushed that it's a complete shift from lighthearted stick-poking to propaganda. Maybe propaganda is too strong a word, but that is what it felt like.

And for these reasons, I give the film a 5.5/7