Inquiring into the rea sons human beings exist, filmmaker Roger Nygard uncovers this stunner: Various people have different opinions.
In his documentary “The Nature of Existence,” Nygard trots the globe talking to religious types, scientists, people in the street and random sort-of celebrities (such as actress Julia Sweeney) to elicit their views on spiritual matters and the meaning of life. Nygard’s careful effort to remain neutral means awarding equal time to ranty evangelists and to professors of physics. He avoids being overly satirical about, for instance, an Alabama “Christian wrestling” match in which one contestant poses as a Jesus of the turnbuckles.
But Nygard’s sincere (and absurd) hope for “common ground” renders the film largely pointless. (Bill Maher’s similar “Religulous” mocked zealots to drive home the point that religion is ridiculous.) Despite occasional amusing interludes and insights, familiar queries such as why God would allow the Holocaust or whether God could make a weight so heavy even He couldn’t lift it give “The Nature of Existence” the feel of a genial high-school class.