DOGMA — ** — Linda Fiorentino, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Chris Rock, Jason Mewes, Kevin Smith, Alan Rickman, Salma Hayek, Jason Lee, George Carlin; rated R (profanity, violence, vulgarity, gore, drug use, brief nudity, racial epithets); Century Theatres 16; Loews Cineplex Broadway Centre, Holladay Center, Midvalley and South Towne Center Cinemas.

THE MESSENGER: THE STORY OF JOAN OF ARC — ** — Milla Jovovich, John Malkovich, Dustin Hoffman, Faye Dunaway, Pascal Greggory, Vincent Cassel, Tcheky Karyo; rated R (violence, gore, profanity, rape, vulgarity); Carmike 12, Cottonwood Mall and Ritz 15 Theaters; Century Theatres 16; Loews Cineplex Midvalley, Trolley Corners and Trolley North Cinemas; Megaplex 17 at Jordan Commons.

Faith is a tricky thing to explain, much less present on film.

But that hasn't stopped filmmakers from trying. And frankly, the results haven't been encouraging.

For every classic like "The Ten Commandments," there have been at least two or three not-so-classic movies, like "Jesus Christ Superstar."

Two new films — one that's already been the subject of protests and another that comes from an equally loathed-and-loved filmmaker — fit into the latter category:

• The world probably won't come to an end with the release of "Dogma." In fact, the only thing that's likely to end is filmmaker Kevin Smith's string of minor box-office successes.

Smith's newest comedy has been no stranger to controversy — members of the Catholic League picketed screenings at the recent New York Film Festival. However, all that did was bring added attention to what is, frankly, an erratic and only sporadically interesting movie.

Smith ("Clerks," "Chasing Amy") has always been a better screenwriter than director, and here even his writing instincts fail him. "Dogma" is filled with interesting, thought-provoking concepts, but the script never manages to explore them with any degree of depth, and the humor rarely rises above junior-high locker-room level.

Linda Fiorentino stars as Bethany, who works in a Planned Parenthood clinic and who has lost her faith in Catholicism and religion in general. But all that is about to change in a hurry.

Bethany receives a visitation from Metatron (Alan Rickman), an angelic messenger of God who tells her that she is the last direct descendant of Christ. He also charges her with stopping two fallen angels, Bartleby (Ben Affleck) and Loki (Matt Damon), who are threatening to "undo" reality — if they can exploit an ecclesiastical loophole and be "forgiven" by the church, which would allow them to return to heaven.