Bill Maher is one of those comedians who divides audiences from the get-go, so there would be no surprise to me if you, dear reader, had already decided not to read this particular film review any further.  To be honest, that would be a shame, for   Religulous - despite its clumsy title - is an extremely entertaining documentary.

As Maher points out at the beginning, he's not there to poke fun at anyone's God, he just wants to try and understand what makes seemingly intelligent and educated people believe and preach in something that is essentially an invisible product that can't be proven.  In his own words, it's not that he's an atheist, he simply doesn't know what the answer is and he wants to ask questions. 

There are plenty of laughs - being a comedian you have to expect some zingers from time to time - but Maher appears to go to great lengths not to make obvious fun of anyone he's interviewing, no matter how outrageous a claim the interviewee makes.  When interviewing a pastor who says he used to be gay but changed his ways and is now straight, Maher is skeptical and asks the pastor to elaborate.  The pastor says simply that no one is born gay, you choose it, to which Maher responds, "Really?  Have you ever met Little Richard?" 

Among the many interviews that doesn't require a comedian's punch-line in order to be funny is when Maher speaks to Senator Mark Pryor from Arkansas.  Maher explains his position of curiosity and skepticism by saying, "It worries me that there are people running my country who believe in a talking snake."  The senator responds by saying, "You don't have to pass an I.Q. test to be in the senate."  The senator's response is funny enough, but director Larry Charles keeps the cameras rolling for several uncomfortable seconds longer, and it's the silent stare between interviewer and interviewee that makes this such a key moment.

Religulous has already been attacked for being blasphemous, but you have to ask yourself, is it blasphemous just to ask questions when you're seriously trying to find out what makes someone of faith believe in what they believe?  The simple answer is that some people simply don't like to be questioned.

I guess it all boils down to this:  If you enjoy Bill Maher's observations and style, you'll enjoy Religulous.  If you don't, steer clear.  This film is not for you.

MPAA Rating:  R       Length:  101 mins.

Let me say up front, Spike Lee is easily one of the best and most consistently interesting American film directors working today.  That's not to say everything works - Miracle At St. Anna is a perfect example - but his approach and execution make even his more mainstream subjects, like Inside Man, far more compelling than the average Hollywood release.

Told as a flashback, Miracle At St. Anna is about four African-American soldiers who find themselves behind enemy lines in Italy during the second world war.  To try to explain the plot with any further detail would bog you down with way too much information, and this is, in part, one of the problems with the film.  Screenwriter James McBride has adapted his own novel and presumably he intended to keep in as much of the original work as possible.  The end result is quite simply too much.  The over-abundance of plot may seem murky to some, meandering to others.  There's even flashbacks within the flashback. 

And, to be honest, I'm not entirely convinced that the film's modern-day sequences were altogether necessary.  One of the soldiers, now an elderly post-office worker just days away from retiring, takes out a pistol and shoots one of his customers.  As the film unfolds we find out why he did what he did, but we're already asking questions.  How come the worker had the gun with him in the first place?  Was it always sitting there, under the counter, ready to be fired, just in case?  It's just one of the many questionable moments, yet even though I believe the film may have benefited from removing the sequence altogether, including the modern day conclusion at the end, it is still a startling and cinematically gripping moment. 

The battle scenes are simply stunning, on a par with the best sequences in We Were Soldiers and Saving Private Ryan, but as directed by Spike Lee there is more going on in the confrontation than just an us versus them sequence.  When the four soldiers find themselves under enemy fire while attempting to cross a river, the Germans are blasting Nazi propaganda over a loudspeaker system.  The sexy, sultry voice of Axis Sally is telling the black soldiers they are fighting for a country that doesn't believe in them, insisting that if they change sides they will find racial equality waiting for them in Germany.  All of this is happening while the Germans continue to mow down every one of them.

With excellent photography throughout and moments that are quite inspirational - the flashback within the flashback where the soldiers find themselves unwanted in an American ice-cream parlour even though they're in uniform ready to fight for the very freedom enjoyed by the parlour's racist owner is a stand out - Miracle At St. Anna is a flawed though important masterpiece and should be seen.  

MPAA Rating:  R       Length:  160 minutes