He’s as cocky and smarmy as Michael Moore, but somehow Bill Maher is also more endearing and credible, as he prances about the globe — Rome, Jerusalem, Salt Lake City, etc. — making jest of sanctimonious true believers: Christians, Moslems, Jews. Raised Catholic but with a Jewish mother, Maher proves unabashedly agnostic and skeptical — in fact, hilariously scornful — of any theistic posture that’s not susceptible to scientific or rational proof. And he’s hardest, as he should be, on the zealots who are out to convert others. He skewers a Jew for Jesus; he destroys the shaky credo of an ex-gay who’s trying to lead others away from homosexuality and toward evangelical Christianity. At no point does Maher back down, get sentimental, or show any hidden respect for spirituality. Helping him stay on the straight and secular is filmmaker Larry Charles, ex-Seinfeld director and the blasphemous helmer of Borat. 101 minutes | Kendall Square + Embassy
