Quickcard Review Religulous
Directed by: Larry Charles Starring: Bill Maher Running Time: 1 hr 41 mins Rated: R
Mug. That's the key to Religulous ... which, by the way took me WAY too long to finally pronounce correctly. It was like staring at Scarlett Johansson ... I knew I was supposed to get "it," but I wasn't seeing what everyone else was.
Back to mug, which can pretty much equal Maher for the duration of this film. He's front and center leading the way to create an understanding of why and how people believe what they do. Maher says he simply doesn't know the answers. That's his religion, the unknowing. And he attempts to investigate why others believe what they do with an open mind, but it's Maher. He mugs.
And most everyone who sees Religulous knows the comic stylings of Maher. He's like an opinionated Johnny Carson. So you have to understand what you are getting in for with this film.
The vast majority is Maher going around the world, pointing out oddities about religion and trying to get into the minds of people who believe. While it's all interesting and entertaining, it's also done so quickly that while you are thinking to yourself, "That's a good point that Maher makes," he's already attempted to make three more.
No religion is safe, from Christianity to Scientology to the one where you smoke pot. And with Charles directing (the man who brought us Borat) some of the same tactics are involved. Like getting escorted from Mormon property ... man that Joseph Smith is a tough one to take.
It's actually all fun and games. But it's also not a film that those devote to their religion will see. It's for atheists and agnostics ... or those still in the closet about their (non) beliefs. I wanted more shocking discoveries (for me at least). Like finding out the story of a god sending his son to Earth, and then that son rising from the dead ... had been told in other cultures for years before the Bible.
The shocker is the ending, when fluff disappears, and violent music is cued. Suddenly Maher is over-the-top passionate explaining the end is near ... if people keep thinking the end is near. If the finale of this film is his true goal, then he misspent his previous hour and a half. But luckily the mugging remained.
Final Score: 6/10