Religulous makes one ponder the purpose of documentary. Conventionally, the genre has existed for the sake of education.  Sometimes a clever director will frame a documentary around a sensationalized concept that makes the subject more entertaining to watch - like comparing the actions of a corporation to the attributes of a sociopath (Mark Achbar's 2003 The Corporation).

Larry Charles and Bill Maher blur this line - cramming so much sarcasm and condascencion into Religulous that it's more stand-up comedy for atheists than it is education.  Religulous can't be said to have been made to educate, as its presentation is shamelessly marketed to an intelligent elite who share their beliefs.  It makes its point without respect.  Sure, once or twice Maher tells his interviewees that he's "just looking for answers," but his approach to nearly every conversation in the film has a sort of irreverent mocking.

I would say that I am pretty thick-skinned; it takes a lot to offend me.  But Religulous, in moments, goes a bit too far even for my own sensibilites.  At one point, an earnest believer expresses anticipation for an eventual heaven and Maher quips (without missing a beat): "Why don't you kill yourself, then?"  The man reacts with the same flabbergasted blank-face that you or I would react with if someone said something so dismissive of us.  It's the moments like these that pull Religulous down a notch - and affect its ability to affect any change.

Sadly, we live in a world where many people who identify with a religion have never read or even thoroughly studied the primary text their faith is based upon.  Maher is an intelligent man who is very frustrated by this fact.  And Charles obviously agrees with Maher's conclusions that religion is an opiate for the masses that will lead us ultimately unto a nuclear war. 

Together, they make some very interesting statements with the film.  Unfortunately, they often do so at the expense of those they interviewed (who clearly had no idea the subject matter of the film).  Their scorn weakens their message - a message that may have cocked eyebrows and gotten gears turning had the presentation not been so skewed.

Don't get me wrong.  If yours is a very liberal mind with little or no faith in "God," Religulous will have you rolling with laughter.  It is an intelligent sarcasm they employ - and it takes balls to do what they've done here.  But the desire to make a comedy seems to have overshadowed the force behind such a fantastic concept.