Kevin Smith Reflects on Dogma, Belief, and a Career of Questions
The subversive 'askewniverse' of Kevin Smith is filled with pop culture nerdom and general tomfoolery, but the filmmaker's heart is as big as his quips and gags. With 1999's Dogma, he went deep, inspired by his Catholic upbringing as a kid and spiritual explorations as a young adult. Starring Ben Affleck and Matt Damon as angels banished from heaven and Alanis Morissette as God, it was one of the filmmaker's most successful movies, grossing $43.9 million worldwide on a budget of $10 million.But it was also controversial, targeted by religious groups who never saw it for a storyline they deemed blasphemous. A Miramax release, the film also was stuck in the muck of the post-Harvey Weinstein sexual assault convictions, unavailable to screen for years. But on June 5, more than 25 years after it debuted, the film is back in theaters nationwide, following Smith's 20-city 'Resurrection Tour' over the past few weeks at AMC theaters, which included an ironic Easter/4-20 event at The Grove.According to Smith, Miramax's parent company Disney never really backed the movie nor did Weinstein, which led him to give it to Lionsgate for theatrical distribution and Sony Columbia TriStar for home video. 'The source material was allegedly owned by Harvey, but once those deals lapsed, it fell out of distribution and languished for years, ' he says. 'Then one day after I'd been gone from the Weinstein company for like, 12 years I got a phone call from Harvey out of the blue, and he was like, 'Kevin I realize I have Dogma, and this is a valuable property.'
But Smith suspects, 'he had no intention of doing anything with Dogma.' The filmmaker says the call was really about trying to find out who the sources were for the upcoming New York Times article that exposed Weinstein's sexual assault crimes, which he knew was coming out soon. Smith tried to buy the film from the exec after that with no luck, but years later, his prayers have finally come true. Fans of the star-studded flick can see it again on the big screen and a whole new generation gets to discover what in many ways is his most ambitious title. And it's likely to earn him new fans for the entirety of his outrageous oeuvre. Despite Dogma's satiric storyline, the film was a soulful endeavor. 'I wanted to make something that expressed my faith … like, let me show what church could be like if I was in charge,' he reflects. 'Now, as a 54-year-old man, I don't feel the same way. I guess I lean heavily agnostic at this point. But I have nothing but love for people of faith. My mom is one. It'd be lovely if I still had the sort of faith I had in childhood. But the movie does, so every night I watch it play as I intended it when I was 28 years old, and I'm delighted to see people interacting with it the way that I hoped they would, even years later.'
Smith's catalog, which includes his breakthrough Clerks and two sequels and two Jay and Silent Bob stoner buddy flicks (in which he acts —silently— alongside his longtime bestie Jason Mewes), as well as Mallrats and Chasing Amy, has proven influential not only to other filmmakers, but to a generation who grew up with cultural game-changers like Star Wars, convention culture, 80's sex comedies and MTV.Second only to Clerks, 1997's Amy —which also stars Affleck alongside Joey Lauren Adams in the title role— has the highest critical ranking on Rotten Tomatoes for good reason. It has its raunchy moments, but like Dogma, it's also layered and thought-provoking, even inspiring a documentary (Chasing Chasing Amy) about its significance to queer culture.
Smith says the "thunder" from Chasing Amy made Dogma possible, as did another Affleck and Damon title, Academy Award-winner Good Will Hunting, which he co-produced. All three of these movies elevated the writer-director's narrative depth, which always went way beyond toilet humor and pop culture references.Kevin Smith films ponder existential questions as they make us laugh about the absurdity of humanity. The best ones, like Chasing Amy, do it seamlessly. An apt Pride month title, considering its theme of straights trying to understand homosexuality and bisexuality, we asked Smith for his take on the film nearly three decades since it came out .'It kind of saved my career,' he says of the film. 'But there are a lot of folks on the internet now who see the movie as overly simplistic… Today there's a wide spectrum [of sexuality], but back then it was progressive. People can see it from many different perspectives, but it captures a snapshot in time and I'll always love it. It's young Kevin Smith at his most earnest.'As for what's next for Smith, the avid comic book and video game aficionado saw one of his biggest dreams come true last month: he and Mewes have their own bundles as playable characters in Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, and their superhero alter-egos, Bluntman and Chronic are soon to follow. "It's just wicked," Smith enthuses. "Jason Mewes plays Call of Duty all the time, so the dude has just been playing with himself in a brand new way for the last two weeks."In addition to films and video games, Smith was an early advocate for podcasting and he encourages fans to join him on three pods he's currently doing in rotation: Hollywood Babylon with pal Ralph Garman, Fat Man Beyond with journalist Mark Bernadin and the show closest to his heart, Beardless Dickless Me with his daughter Harley Quinn.
This story was originally reported by L.A. Mag on Jun 4, 2025, where it first appeared.
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