WHILE WATCHING IT: 8/10
Saying this is Smith's best film maybe isn't saying much, depending on how you feel about him. Seriously, after a bunch of movies he finally figured out a camera can tell a story, and that there's such a thing as artful editing. Aside from a few long-winded, self-indulgent, not-as-clever-as-Smith-thinks speeches, things fly by with energy and unpredictability. Emotions are generated, then fucked with. No character is safe. And John Goodman offers more evidence that he's one of the finest actors out there. Two or three really good bits of dialogue.
AFTER THE MOVIE ENDS AND I THOUGHT ABOUT IT: 4/10. Really, this is stupid shit. Shot with hand-held cameras to evoke a "realistic" look, but the script is riddled with plot holes, huge coincidences, and just plain malarky. It's paranoid, and its ultimate point that "religious extremism is bad" is sorta fucking obvious at this point. Smith acted for years like this is a film he HAD to make, but why? It's loosely based on Rev. "God hates fags" Phelps, one of the most hated men in America, and this over-the-top representation seems like overkill.
As far as technique goes, I stand by the statement that this is Smith's best film. Of course, shit director that he is, now that he's figured out how to make a film he's announced his retirement.