DVD Review: Religulous

Religulous is interesting, sometimes amazing and sometimes humourous but it lacks the quality of other similar movies. Bill Maher does not possess the tenacity of Michael Moore, nor does he generate comedy like Sacha Baron-Cohen.

Religulous follows comedian Bill Maher around the globe interviewing people about God and Religion. Rather than poke fun at people, he challenges them. He plays devil's advocate with their beliefs and for the most part shows that despite all counter-arguments or evidence to show otherwise, the people he interviews are sometimes unwilling, but mostly unable to comprehend the possibility of their beliefs being all for nothing, or their gods and saviours being solely creations of man and not the construction of some unseen deity.

I personally see nothing wrong with questions being asked of anyone's beliefs. Though not religious, I have beliefs myself and will quite happily explain or defend them to anyone and everyone, but if I'm proven to be wrong, I'll drop that belief like a bagged-up, weighed-down, unwanted puppy at christmas. I can however see why some people may maintain their beliefs in the face of glaringly obvious evidence to the contrary, though I don't agree with it. Bill Maher is definitely not insensitive to religion and isn't overly intrusive in his interviews. He's actually quite a tame interviewer, it's not that he avoids difficult questions, it's more in the way he delivers them. In asking those questions that may make or break the interview, he manages to remain likeable. I found him just that little bit too soft for my liking.

The selling points of Religulous, which are advertised on the posters, trailers and website are that it is directed by Larry Charles, the director of Borat and Bruno and it is brought to the screen by the studio that made Farenheit 9/11. Sadly, Religulous isn't as good as any of those movies. As mentioned above, Bill Maher lacks the tenacity of Michael Moore, and in taking it upon himself to question religion he has lined himself up for failure. Michael Moore's documentaries have achievable ends, to decrease gun crime or improve the American Healthcare system, whereas it is quite clear that Maher is not going to disprove religion in one documentary.

He does give it a bloody good go though. The evidence is clearly in his favour, and it is commendable that Maher targetted the larger religions, those that would be harder to convert than the very easy to disprove, i.e. "Scientology". He does mention the "S" word, and the beliefs of it's members, but only very briefly. You could fill 3 days by pointing out holes in that religion so I'm glad he chose the more difficult route.

I know I said he's likeable but he does have his troubles on his journey. Getting thrown out of one of the vatican buildings, having his interview of jesus stopped in a Christianity Theme Park, and being removed from the grounds of Mormon property to name a few. His journey also brings a few laughs. The look on his interviewee's faces when presented with information contrary to their religion is pretty amusing, as is the preacher that put the bling in religion, and the homosexual converter. Sadly, despite name-dropping it, the laughs are nothing like those with Borat.

Watching Religulous has now made me aware of Bill Maher, who appears to be an intelligent, witty, opinionated comedian, which are all good points in my eyes. As for the film itself, it's a good watch. There were times when I was truly shocked by the responses of his interviewees and having watched it I am now using some of the evidence he provided in his film to insert into my own conversations about religion. It was enlightening and interesting. Just don't expect it to compete with the movies it had to name-drop in it's marketing.