Keeping the Faith

Starring: Ben Stiller, Jenna Elfman, Edward Norton, Eli Wallach, Anne Bancroft, Ron Rifkin, Milos Forman
Directed by: Edward Norton
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance, Comedy
2000

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Two best friends, a Catholic priest (Edward Norton) and a Jewish rabbi (Ben Stiller) have their world turned upside down by the reemergance of their childhood friend, now a beautiful workaholic (Jenna Elfman). As both men fall in love with her, this strange love triangle has some hilarious results, and ultimately, tests the faith of all three friends.

Review:

Tim: This film isn't bad, but could have been better. First of all, I love the idea for the film. It simply sounds funny. As the film first begins, it tries too hard to be a funny film. Some of the scenes would have been funny had the film not thrown them down your throat, almost seeming to say-"See! This is a comedy! Laugh, dammit!" Not very effective. As the film goes on, it gets better by degrees.

The cast at first glance looked excellent. Ben Stiller, a comic master, didn't do a bad job. He was funny when he needed to be, serious at times, and all around did a decent job. He's not extraordinary in any sense, however, and Stiller fans may be a bit disappointed he wasn't funnier in the film.

Edward Norton did a tremendous job both in front of and behind the camera. Its never easy to direct (this was his directorial debut!), co-produce, and star in a film, but he does so here. I found myself realizing that as the film went on, we saw less and less of Norton, until the end. I suppose it was a break for him not be on camera all the time, so he could concentrate on directing. I liked him in this film- he played the priest very well, and was called on for a wider range of emotions and comedy than Stiller was. I think as director as well, Norton wanted his character to almost take the backseat to his other two big stars. However, the exact opposite happened, as his performance is the best in the film, and he is by far the most likeable character.

The third actor in this trio is Jenna Elfman. I really like her- I loved her in EDtv- I thought she was strong yet vulnerable, and very appealing in that movie. Here, however, I was not as impressed with her. Maybe it was the fact that she has trouble pulling off the role as a workaholic hard-ass, but I felt something lacking in her performance here. I'm not saying it was bad in any shape, way, or form. I was just expecting more from her. She and Stiller also had a few problems with their chemistry, as I didn't see her and him mixing as well as she and Norton did.

All in all, this is a pretty decent film. It's far from spectacular, but far from horrible as well. It does many things right, and many things wrong. It might not have been so bad, but at 129 minutes, its far too long for the purpose and plot of the film. Its nice to watch Norton's directorial debut, as he does a very, very good job with the film, despite its flaws. I advise you to take a chance on this film as see for yourself- I figure most viewers will be split, some will like it, some won't. You'll never know unless you try it out.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Fight Club, EDtv, Meet the Parents, There's Something About Mary, American History X