Kevin Smith’s fourth effort, “Dogma,” cleverly tackles the issue of Christianity using humor and dialogue-heavy scenes. Though slow moving at times, the film is overall entertaining.

Jam-packed with big names, “Dogma” was one of the most talked about movies before coming out.

With appearances by Alanis Morissette playing God and mega stars Ben Affleck and Matt Damon having fairly big roles, the film didn’t quite live up to it’s expectations, but did reiterate the fact that Smith can write great scripts.

The movie follows Bethany (Linda Fiorentino), a woman disappointed with her life because she can’t have children. She is approached by an angel named Metatron (Alan Rickman) who wants her to stop two fallen angels, Bartleby (Affleck) and Loki (Damon), who have escaped from exile and are heading to New Jersey.

If the two pass through the arc of a certain church, it will prove God is fallible and the world will come to an end. Bethany is assigned Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Kevin Smith) to assist her. Along the journey, she also picks up Serendipity (Selma Hayek) and Rufus (Chris Rock), who claims to be the 13th apostle and that Jesus owes him $12.

Though somewhat controversial in it’s discussions of religion, the subject matter is kept light with humor.

Jay and Silent Bob are once again humorous highlights much like past Smith movies.

Jay provides his always funny commentary filled with his desires for sex, his love for the f-word and of course, making fun of Silent Bob.

Rock’s character also provides laughs, as he tries to convince others on his views of the Bible and religion, which mostly favor black people.

Other big supporting names include George Carlin, Jason Lee and Janeane Garofalo, who play good sized roles and add more depth to the film.

“Dogma” is the type of movie you might have to see twice, as the film revolves around the interaction and dialogue of the characters.

There is a good chance you may miss something the first time around.

Fiorentino has the most serious role of the film and handles it well.

Her job at an abortion clinic and her dislike and distrust in Catholicism prove to be some of the more interesting and controversial facets of “Dogma.”

Affleck and Damon are fun to watch on screen together.

Their chemistry as real-life friends comes through in the film and it is obvious they had fun playing their characters.

It’s hard for this film not to be entertaining with such a great cast. And conversations between all of the religious figures are intriguing to watch, as they discuss the reasons behind many aspects of popular culture.

If you’re looking for the raw, independent feel of such Smith films as “Clerks” and “Mallrats,” you’ll be disappointed. But someone with as much skill as Smith deserves a big budget film to spread his talents.

“Dogma,” along with being funny and entertaining, is actually somewhat educational when it comes to people’s viewpoints of religion.

It can make you think if you want it to, or you can just sit back and laugh at Jay’s fat jokes.

*** 1/2

Kyle Moss is a junior in journalism and mass communications from Urbandale. He enjoys long walks off short piers.