Review: 'Religulous'

Bill Maher's documentary skewers religion but chooses laughable targets to make his point.

from the October 3, 2008 edition

Bill Maher skewers the major religions, and some of the minor ones, in the documentary "Religulous," although most of his targets are, in all senses of the word, laughable. Globetrotting from Jerusalem to Vatican City to Salt Lake City, Maher talks to an actor playing Jesus in a Christian theme park; he speaks with a Miami priest who believes he's the second coming of Christ. He interviews a wacky Roman Catholic priest in front of the Vatican who agrees with Maher that the teachings of the Catholic Church are hooey. (Maher was raised as a Roman Catholic.) Was Maher afraid he might muddy his clownish jape if he actually brought into the mix a learned theologian? Grade: B- (Rated R for some language and sexual material.)