According to Dirty Harry, who reviewed the film a few days back, yes… sadly, it is.
Religulous isn’t only a cowardly hatchet job because of the deception used to catch its interview subjects off guard, but also because it becomes increasingly obvious that Maher simply doesn’t have the guts or enough self-confidence in his position to sit down with someone as prepared as he is (by a staff) for an honest, open debate. Anyone who’s heard Dennis Prager or Hugh Hewitt defend their religious beliefs with non-believing guests (who aren’t duped and lied to), can’t help but be frustrated by Maher’s glib deflection and refusal to talk to someone at all prepared for what he’s peddling.
Ultimately, the film’s built on a dishonesty that makes it difficult to settle in and enjoy it. According to the holy book of Maher, Christians have only ever spread grief. There’s no mention of the abolition of slavery, missionary work, or the Mother Theresa’s of the faith. There’s no mention that the great mass-murderers of the 20th century, Mao, Hitler, Pol Pot, and Stalin were all hostile to faith, or that our Judeo-Christian country is the only one in history to be attacked, wage war, win, rebuild our enemies, liberate them and then turn their country back over to them. To any thinking, reasonable person, these elephants, located in each and every room, will make it difficult to sit back and relax. What’s unsaid is both deafening and distracting.Religulous isn’t smart, it’s smart ass. It’s also astonishingly dishonest. A game of Biblical gotcha! is one thing, but positioning the thoroughly debunked link between an ancient Egyptian god and Jesus as historical fact is what you might call the film’s Michael Moore moment — the moment so audaciously dishonest and unfair it undercuts any gains the film might have otherwise enjoyed. There’s Michael Moore catching Charlton Heston off guard, there’s Michael Moore showing the Iraqi people out flying kites, and there’s Bill Maher matter of factly presenting a wild conspiracy – that the Gospels are pretty much plagiarized — as fact.
