BY JANET MASLIN

CANNES, France -- David ("Blue Velvet") Lynch floored audiences at the Cannes International Film Festival on Friday with an eloquently simple, deeply emotional G-rated movie, "The Straight Story," whose unassuming 79-year-old star gives the best leading performance to be seen here. And that was only the second-biggest surprise of the day.

The first involved Harvey Weinstein of Miramax, who is usually happily orchestrating Cannes brouhaha but has stayed uncharacteristically far from the spotlight this year. After Kevin Smith's potentially controversial "Dogma" was unveiled Friday morning, Weinstein found himself in an alley outside the theater, doing something that is unheard of here: taking part in an impromptu news conference without benefit of spin.

The reason: Not even Weinstein knows what "Dogma" is up against. All that seems certain about what press notes call Smith's "comic fantasia" is that it won't be getting any closer than the word "fantasia" to Miramax's corporate parent.

When Walt Disney Co. discreetly indicated that it did not want to be fielding anti-"Dogma" pickets at theme parks, Weinstein and his brother Bob dropped "Dogma" from Miramax's roster, and then agreed to buy the $14 million film back personally and make other distribution plans.

Where does it go from here?

Into calmer waters, let us hope. Because Smith's "Dogma" is as smart and articulate as it is wildly irreverent, with characters who try to make sense of faith just as his "Chasing Amy" characters tried to sort out love and sexual identity.

And Smith's fusion of off-the-wall humor with serious debate never leaves the strength of his religious conviction in question. "Dogma" has an outlook best summed up by a character in Smith's sharp-edged screenplay: "I have issues with anyone who treats God like a burden instead of a blessing." Even if this is a film that enlists a silent Alanis Morissette to play God.

If "Dogma" winds up offending those who haven't seen it, it isn't likely to have that effect at closer range. Actually, it's the rare pop entertainment with a lot on its mind, even if a meandering second half and a few gratuitous gross-outs dilute its effect. (Smith, whose cast includes Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Linda Fiorentino, Chris Rock and George Carlin, is a much better director of hilariously stubborn arguments than of action scenes.)

Calling "Dogma" anti-Catholic, Smith said Friday afternoon, "is like calling me anti-New Jersey." And he is so fond of his home state that in "Dogma" he shows two travelers who are unable to buy bus tickets to New Jersey because of high demand.

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