Thursday 20 September 2012

Religulous (2008) - ★★★

Director: Larry Charles
Stars: Bill Maher

Bill Maher's Religulous was compelling enough to keep me entertained throughout the documentary, but I ended up wondering what the point of making it even was.

No religion was left unscathed in Maher's hilariously funny interviews with people that span from the uneducated Christian's of the South to the man who claims he is the second coming of Jesus. Much of the film is Maher giving his opinion on religion, which I found interesting, however, I was disappointed in the lack of information presented from the pro-religion side.

Much of the interviews were from, excuse my bluntness, idiots. It could have been so much better had Maher interviewed more authorities on the subject. I understand that he is blacklisted from many religious foundations across the world, but interviewing ignorant and clueless strangers just didn't add up to make a great documentary.

There wasn't much of a point made. Obviously Maher wants to prove that religion is silly and inhibits the progression of mankind, but that just doesn't come across in this film, which is the fatal flaw of it all. I was expecting cut-throat facts and evidence from his part, but all he gave was peoples opinions on the subject, which disappointed me deeply. I will however mention one scene that had me laughing for a while. Maher interviews a man that 'used to be' gay, and when they hugged at the end the theme to Brokeback Mountain started playing, which I thought was extremely subtle, clever and hilarious.

I admire Bill Maher very much, and I love his viewpoint on religion. This documentary just seemed half-assed and presented nothing new. It was the same old debate from Christians, Jews, Muslims, Mormons alike. Regardless of its unoriginality, this film is entertaining, which is why I give it a thumbs up.

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