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Andrew
Denton is arguably Australia's most respected piss-taker. While he was
big in the early nineties, it wasn't until his unique take on the
Logies did the country stand still and pay attention to the small
glasses wearing trouble maker. What followed was the critical and
ratings success of Enough Rope,
which has led Denton back to what he does best - documentaries. Stories
about people, places and the ways of life (however good, bad or
ridiculous they may be). God On My Side
is one of Denton's first outings as a documentary film star, treading
the dangerous waters of religion - bit more to the point - Christianity. We
follow Denton as he travels to Texas for the National Religious
Broadcasters' Convention, the annual shindig for every televangelist
powerbroker and wannabe in America. This feature-length documentary
records what he found. Besides exposing the system for the
money-grubbing, income machine that it is (not that people really
needed reminding of it anyway - well, at least the ones smart enough
not to fork over their cash to these heartless con-men), God On My Side does it's job by simply becoming a fantastic look at the warped mind of those who pedal religion. Now,
I'm by no means discrediting Christian or Catholic beliefs. In fact,
any belief - or act of faith - is essential to getting through life at
times. However, some of the "Reverends" featured in GOMS seem to believe their own bullshit, to the point where their character flaws are slowly unravelled as the interviews progress. Denton
has such a fantastic way of tearing away the layers, without the
subject being aware that they are being exposed. He is, in particular
in this case, the devil in disguise. Unfortunately, unlike Enough Rope, GOMS tends to suffer from length - and the restricted nature of being at the convention. Americana and religious wacks have long been the subject of these sort of documentaries (Penn & Teller : BS and anything by the UK's Louis Theroux's Weird Weekends
are a must watch). however, Denton seems to lack the depth that the
aforementioned documentaries do. It's like we are only seeing part of
the story, and by about the 50 minute mark, the interviews just seem to
rehash the information we got at the beginning of the interview (and
much like attending a convention in real life, you kind of just want to
go home after a while). It's
like Denton lacked the conviction to follow up the stories, to dig
deeper into the flawed characters he's trying to expose. What makes
them tick behind closed doors? All in all, God On My Side
does a competent job of subtly exposing the contradictions and often
farcical elements of some seriously-held beliefs. But for mine, it just
wasn't enough - ripping one layer off the onion, never quite getting to
the core of the story. It will keep you entertained - but nowhere
as good as it could (or should) have been. For a hard hitting expose on
religion - your best off seeing Deliver Us From Evil. EXTRAS
There
are several uncut interviews with the key players that appear
throughout the doco. These give a greater insight into the minds of the
(some what warped and deluded) minds of the televangelists. Hard
to sit through if you've just endured the 30 minutes-to-long feature,
but as they stand, extremely entertaining dissection's of the human
mind. Conclusion:
Movie 68% Extras: 60%
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