Religulous

A documentary that travels to holy places, hot spots and even a pot den can't be all bad. In fact it's quite good especially when the screen comes alive with well paced clips from classic movies. The talking points are about religion with the emphasis on Christianity, Judaism and Islamic faith. The tone is irreverent which should come as no surprise since the host is Bill Maher and the director, Larry Charles, previously helmed Borat.
At one point Maher tells a joke he used to great effect on The Tonight Show (Johnny Carson era) that emphasizes the fact that his parents were half and half. One was Catholic and one was Jewish. The joke describes bringing a lawyer into confession. “Bless me father for I have sinned - and I think you know Mr. Cohen.” When I saw this part of the movie it reminded me of a Jewish dude I know who used to tell this joke, and the joke was on me because I used to think he made it up himself.
Maher may not be the best person to present some of the illuminating interviews on display but then the snide factor gives Religulous its tasty satiric bite. God sending his son to Earth on a suicide mission might be the perfect plot for a Hollywood action adventure Maher advises. Israeli locations include the Church of the Holy Sepulchre at Golgotha, and I never knew there was a preserved footprint of Christ at the Chapel of the Ascensio. Other sites of interest, and you will raise your eyebrows, include Sodom and Gomorrah in the Dead Sea area and Megiddo in the Jezreel Valley.
Hot spots in Amsterdam take us to the the Sensi Coffee and Seed Shop and the place in Zeeburg District where filmmaker Theo Van Gogh was stabbed to death after he made a movie questioning Muslim tradition. We're just getting started: there's the Holy Land Experience in Orlando and you thought Disneyland was the only tourist destination in Florida.
Senator Mark Pryor (D. AR) admits that you don't need to pass an I.Q. test to get into Congress. That's just as well since some politicians seem to believe in creationism. You won't go into the movie a believer and come out a non-believer, it's not that kind of experience. At the conclusion Maher goes into one of his patented monologues and asks why there's so much madness and destruction centered around this crazy thing called religion. The editing is concise, the soundtrack includes foot tapping rockers like "Jesus Is Just Alright" by the Doobies, although true believers know that The Byrds performed that song first.