Bill Maher has made the funniest, but not quite scariest, movie of the year.
The veteran political comedian's new documentary Religulous questions the factual basis of religion and the faith that comes with it.
Talking with supporters, and a few dissenters, of several religions around the world (including a cannabis-based religion in Amsterdam), Maher and his director, Larry Charles (Borat), expose the irrational thoughts religion plants in usually rational people.
At one point, Steve Berg, an "Ex-Jew for Jesus," denies his belief in Santa Claus, to which Maher responds, "Of course not; that's one man flying all around the world and dropping presents down a chimney...one man hearing everyone murmur to him at the same time...that I get." Following this, Berg has little to say, virtually speechless. This reaction occurs, at one point or another, with nearly all of the religious people Maher interviews.
Whether this is an editing trick employed by the filmmakers to prove the point of the film or honest reactions is hard to decipher. But then, this is not a "fly-on-the-wall" documentary, not once trying to be unbiased about its intentions.
Maher is on-screen more than Michael Moore was in Fahrenheit 9/11 and has a bigger agenda. That being said, like Moore's anti-Bush film, the facts revealed throughout are provocative and controversial, making religion seem as corrupt and slanted as war propaganda.
Unfortunately, Maher's political views and constant presence in the film, not to mention his constant interrupting of his interviewees, will give many viewers with religious beliefs an excuse to ignore the prevalent facts and religious hypocrisies peppered throughout.
At one point in the film, Maher brings up the similarity of Jesus' story to the stories of gods from other cultures and belief systems, such as the Egyptian god Horus. This conspiracy theory is met, in general, with denial.
And that is Maher's most poignant point at film's end, the idea that "God is just an imaginary friend for adults."
He doesn't reveal much that critics of religion haven't already revealed, and the images and people he talks to do not illustrate the true dangers of religion like the recent, and much more effective, documentary Jesus Camp.
Religulous is not much more than a comical disproving of religion as an institution, save the last 10 minutes in which Maher goes on an agnostic rant in an attempt to convince every viewer not only to dismiss religion but, rather ironically, preach against it.
Maher is a self-righteous public figure and uses it to his advantage here, at least comically. He cracks jokes constantly, to both his subjects and his fellow filmmakers, and the audience loves it.
And although Maher attempts to strike fear into the hearts of viewers about the real-life dangers of living in a world, and country, in which the decision-makers make faith-based decisions, the film as a whole chooses to be more funny, less serious.
Viewers will leave thinking about all they've seen, making fun of the ridiculously religious people mocked throughout and briefly considering the dangers Maher exposes in the film's final minutes. All this makes it one of the more important films of the year.
If only it was a little bit more important.
