Review: Religulous

It's time for a walk on the wild side of religion as Bill Maher and Borat director Larry Charles guide us through a parade of Jesus impersonators, Muslim rappers, ex-gays, anti-zionist Jews, greedy televangelists and creationist senators.

Religulous is not a particularly informative film. Neither does it offer what I'd call a serious commentary on religion (except, perhaps, in its final few minutes). However, it does a fair job of conveying the puzzlement with which the faithless view religion. It's also hysterically funny.

I must also commend Maher for not going after the usual suspects. He doesn't harangue Fred Phelps or Ted Haggard. Instead, we get characters like José Luis de Jesús Miranda, a Puerto Rican preacher who dresses like a drug baron and claims to be Jesus Christ reincarnated.

The film's humor is provided by nimble editing and Bill Maher's preference for teasing over aggression. My favorite interludes included a trip to the bizarre "Creation Museum," where an animatronic Adam and Eve cavort with dinosaurs, and an interview with an unbelievably disillusioned Catholic priest ("Immaculate conception? ...Pfffft!").

Those sensitive to seeing their religion as the butt of a joke may want to avoid this movie. Though wingnuts get the better part of Maher's attention, it's only a matter of time until your number comes up.

Larry Charles's direction, as in Borat, treads somewhere between MTV and cinéma vérité, ensuring a visually engaging and immersive product without relying on gimmickry.

The final five minutes, in which Maher expounds upon our need to dispense with religion or risk self-destruction, feel as tacked on as the sentimental conclusion to a road trip comedy, even if the argument is cogent. The spastic editing in of ironic stock footage also takes a bit of oomph out of the film's latter half.

However, Religulous greatly exceeded my expectations as a relaxed and almost friendly jab at the follies of faith. Check your reverence at the door and you should enjoy it.