Religulous

Religulous

I don't need to say much about this one. Before I watched the film (which I've had lying around for a few years, actually) I thought this would be an insipid straight documentary about the origins of world-wide religion and how it's expanded through the ages.

It's nothing like that. Bill Maher is an atheist, or perhaps just an extreme Agnostic. His core belief is that Religion and Faith are hokey devices/notions which serve not credible or worthwhile purpose in today's society, nor really at any point in history.

Thus, Religulous is a 100-minute documentary based upon facets of Maher's life, explaining why he doesn't believe that any aspect of Religion bears any redeemable features whatsoever. Taking on various representatives of the religious world, he makes smarmy jibs and comedic observations, most of which are delivered with an acute tinge of Jewish brilliance that seems to encompass the stylings and mannerisms of Larry David and Richard Lewis, two fantastic observational comedians in their own right.

Whilst devout Christians (or indeed members of any religion) will take offence to effectively everything on offer in this film, for Atheists like me, it is more of a comedy than a serious documentary, and oddly enough, this was the hardest I've laughed at a film in (perhaps) years.

8/10