I saw a promotional preview of the film “Religulous” and admit that I laughed throughout. This is Bill Maher’s movie poking at religion and calling out the silliness and danger therein.
A good thing about the film is that Maher makes the subject personal by talking about his own religious background and even interviewing his mother. It helps keep the film down to earth, and avoids making it an exercise in throwing thunderbolts of derision from on high. In addition to pointing out the ridiculous, he also engages in some honest discussion with believers throughout the film.
Another strong point is the fact that Maher is very funny and very sharp. There’s plenty of material out there that barely needs help satirizing, and he gives it just the right touch. Some activities, like speaking in tongues, the movie just shows without comment. They speak for themselves, so to speak. In his discussions along the way, Maher has his arguments well in hand, or at least is edited to look that way. The filmmakers also use wonderful clips from old religious films to liven things up or drive a point home.
A small criticism – Maher gets serious at the end (and I think he had to) but maybe the change in tone from satire to serious could have been handled a little more deftly. Maybe not. And as long as I’m directing in hindsight, I wish he had spent more time on religious moderates and explored what if any culpability they have for not going after the crazies that belong to their own religion. He mentions this, but that’s all. They could have cut the “marijuana church” scenes to make room for this. Those scenes were funny but kind of unnecessary, in my opinion.
The controversies will come hard and fast. Like the producers of “Expelled,” I’ve read that Maher sometimes used a fake, less controversial title for the film to get people to participate and speak on camera. I also don’t remember mention of anything positive about religion, such as the charitable work or supportive community provided by many groups.
In the end, though, he’s got a very funny, entertaining film. It scores some serious points about the absurdity of god beliefs and the frightening prospect of mixing modern technology and politics with bronze age superstition.
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