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Keeping the Faith
***
Rated on a 4-star
scale
Screening venue: Warner Village (Birkenhead Conway Park)
Released in the UK by Buena Vista International; on September 15, 2000;
certificate 12; 129 minutes; country of origin USA; aspect ratio
1.85:1
Directed by Edward Norton; produced by
Stuart Blumberg, Hawk Koch, Edward Norton. Written by
Stuart Blumberg. Photographed by Anastas Michos; edited by
Malcolm Campbell.
CAST.....
Ben Stiller..... Rabbi Jake Schram
Edward Norton..... Father Brian Finn
Jenna Elfman..... Anna Reilly
Anne Bancroft..... Ruth Schram
Eli Wallach..... Rabbi Lewis
Ron Rifkin..... Larry Friedman
Milos Forman..... Father Havel
"Keeping the Faith" is a movie about
a rabbi and a Catholic priest who both fall in love with the same woman.
Sounds like a bad joke. The trailer for the movie does it even less favours
than that summary, playing up its few slapstick gags, like when the rabbi
passes out at a briss, or the priest sets himself on fire due to clumsiness
with incense. In actuality this is a smart and good-natured picture,
conscientious without pretension, a good mixture of romance, buddy movie,
and verbal and thematic humour. Trust me.
Ben Stiller plays the rabbi, Jake Schram; Edward
Norton, who also directed the film, is the priest, Brian Finn. These guys
have been best friends since childhood, and have an obvious rapport. "Who's
the coolest woman you and I have ever known?" asks Brian over a game of
basketball, already knowing how Jake will reply.
Her name is Anna Reilly (Jenna Elfman), who was
once inseparable from the boys, but moved to California when they were thirteen.
Brian gets a call from her announcing that she's now a high-powered executive,
returning to New York City on business for a few months. The trio reunite,
and, of course, it's just like the good ol' days.
Because the screenplay covers a significant period
of time, Jake, Brian and Anna genuinely get to know each other, share interests,
have significant discussions, become parts of each other's lives. It's more
convincing than most Hollywood romances, in which a guy and gal will fall
in love at first sight, and we're supposed to care because the music on the
soundtrack tells us to.
Before Anna even enters the piece, "Keeping the
Faith" gives us detailed introduction to the two male protagonists, showing
their slightly unorthodox approaches to sermons. They don't perform any wacky
antics, but they talk in human terms -- these are guys who care about the
meanings of their faiths, and want to instil passion into their congregations.
Their occupations are not just gimmicks of the plot. They show Jake and Brian
to be smart and thoughtful people worth caring about.
Back to the story: Brian, obviously, cannot enter
into romantic liaison, and so has to think seriously about his feelings as
opposed to his responsibilities. Jake, who actually does have an affair with
Anna, is getting pressure from his community to be married, but is concerned
that a Catholic bride would not go down well with conservative worshippers
or synagogue elders. He has had first-hand experience of the offence such
an act can cause: his brother wed a gentile, and has been shunned by his
mother (Anne Bancroft) ever since.
"Keeping the Faith" is not a monumental movie
about ethics; they're not going to be showing it in religious training
institutes, or even in high school RS classes. But it does offer more weighty
dilemmas than a lot of romantic comedies, which often boil down to petty
feuds and farfetched misunderstandings. I like its attitude to religion,
too -- respectful in general, because it recognises the value of preaching
love and hope, and admires people who would devote their lives to such causes;
on the other hand, the movie doesn't ignore that church dogma causes
problems.
The leads are all likeable, because they're
good-looking people playing intelligent characters, and if the film presents
an idyllic picture of friendship, religion and life in general, well, hey,
what do you expect from a rom com? My one significant complaint is that at
129 minutes the film is far too long. Perhaps the third act's scenes of
awkwardness between Jake and Brian could be dropped -- they feud for a short
period, but it's long enough to drag onscreen. The subplot about Jake's brother
isn't really needed, either. We understand his dilemma well enough without
getting an example shoved in our faces.
COPYRIGHT© 2000 Ian
Waldron-Mantgani
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