Rating: 
Summary: A Charming Film
Review: I think this is a charming movie. The characters are likeable, it's very funny, and has a heartwarming message without being cheesy or smarmy. A great "date" movie and appropriate fun for older children (some romantic (not sex) scenes not okay for younger viewers).
Rating: 
Summary: Nice and fun movie!
Review: This movie was more fun then I had expect it to be, I would give it 3 1/2 stars if I can but not 4 stars this movie is fun but very cliché. Good performance from the actors but sometime Jenna Elfman gets on my nerves but she's funny most of the time and a good actress. It's a good and funny movie to watch but I felt it could had been more to the story, I don't know exactly what but something is missing and I feel that was odd that the girl get with (Ben) and (Norton) is all okay with it at the end, I thought he love her, well anyways go rent it if you want to past a relaxing evening at home with a funny movie to get out the stress of the day or of the week.
Rating: 
Summary: So funny, but I had a hard time with Ed Norton as a priest..
Review: I LOVED this movie!!! Ben Stiller, Jenna Elfman, and Ed Norton make an excellent comical team!!! My favorite part is when Father Brian goes to pick up Rabbi Schram while Anna is over at his apartment. Catholics who befriend Jews and Jews who befriend Catholics, are sure to appreiate this movie. The only aspect of the movie that bothered me was that Ed Norton played a priest because I think he is so HOT and I had a hard time gawking at him while he was in cleric's clothing.
Rating:
Summary: Good Romantic Comedy
Review: Keeping The Faith (2000) is a light, entertaining and contemporary romantic comedy. The setup sounds very corny but it works. Jacob, played by Ben Stiller is Jewish. Brian, played by Edward Nortan, is Irish Catholic, and Anna, played by Jenna Elfman, is an Irish Catholic girl. All three were best friends growing up in Brooklyn. In the eighth grade, Anna's family moves to California. Remaining best friends, Jacob grows up to become a rabbi, Brian a priest. When they are in their thirties, Ruth contacts Brian to tell him she is coming to New York for a few weeks. Jacob and Brian have not seen or spoken to Anna in twenty years. She is now a high-powered businesswoman. Jacob and Brian meet her at the airport together. The actress Jennie Elfman's looks are quite captivating. She is very tall, taller than both guys, very thin and very blonde. Both men's passions ignite and burn wild. The rest of the movie is a love triangle made interesting because of all the things that priests and rabbis are not supposed to do. I liked the scenes involving the synagogue congregation. It's not something that one sees in many movies. I felt that the image of the priest as sexually emasculated was very sad. A fair attempt is made at balancing it, but it fails. Other actors you may recognize in the film are Ann Bancroft who plays Jacob's mother and Ron Rifkin who plays a senior rabbi. Milos Forman who plays Brian's pastor has a good scene near the end, counseling Brian.
Rating: 
Summary: Huh?
Review: Maybe it's just me, but, aren't rabbis and priests "men of the cloth?" Never mind that it is frowned upon when rabbis date non-Jewish women, but sleep with them??? And is a priest so faithless that all his religious training and the sacred vows he took are tossed aside when some pretty girl who floats into town flirts with him? Well, folks, that's what happens. Now, the girl in question is one who neither the rabbi nor the priest have seen or talked to in 15 years, since their parting as children. And when she comes into town on business they suddenly both fall head over heels for her ... solely on her looks. And Jenna Elfman is attractive, but it's a little unbelievable that a rabbi and a priest would so shamelessly gawk at her like two boys ogling a centerfold. Aren't religious leaders supposed to embody self-restraint? I couldn't think of a single reason why either one of these supposedly very dedicated religious men would be so dreamily attracted to this high-powered businesswoman, who they really don't know anymore, since they haven't seen her in a decade and a half. Jenna Elfman doesn't give them a reason, either. She's work-obsessed, bossy, and she has nothing in common with either of them except that they were friends in junior high school. Are they supposed to see through that to the real her? Ben Stiller (the rabbi) and Edward Norton (the priest) claim that she's special. But they really haven't gotten a chance to know her. They're actually more in lust, which seems somewhat far-fetched, given their religious background. Eventually, Stiller and Elfman begin sleeping together, and claim to have fallen in love. This is hard to buy as most of their scenes together are of them having sex. In the meantime, Norton starts dreaming of Elfman, and misinteprets her flirtations as gestures of true love, at which point he's ready to call the whole priest thing quits. And this is after he's told Elfman how he's at peace with his vow of chastity. Nobody would believe either male character has had an ounce of religious training. They drink, swear, take the Lord's name in vain, and conduct religious services like stand-up comedians. The rationale for this last behavior is that it brings people to church. Obviously it's a comedy, but the actions and faithlessness of Stiller and Norton render them completely unconvincing as spiritual leaders. The attempts to paint the religious men as still just human beings fails because they never seemed convinced themselves of their own faith to begin with. I'm not sure what message this film is trying to send. Modern religious leaders are weak, faithless people, generally prone to sinful acts? True love grows out of flirting, erotic dreams, and pre-marital sex? You should only go to church if it's entertaining? There are lines throughout the film that try to justify the "unbelievability" of the events which occur. This in itself seems to indicate that those who made the film knew it was too far-fetched, and had to in some way rationalize it. Of course, this only makes things worse. Eli Wallach, Anne Bancroft, and Milos Forman all add nice touches of acting clout in supporting roles. And there are a couple of funny scenes here and there. But they can't save this film. Comedy or not, two-dimensional characters and a ridiculous storyline do not a good film make.
Rating:
Summary: much better than I anticipated
Review: I had no desire to see this movie, but I had run out of Stiller movies, and so I had no choice. It ended being such a funny, enjoyable, and cute film that I can say that any move Ben Stiller is in is gonna be great, and I will never doubt Edward Norton again, either. His directing is superb--he keeps it really spontaneous and honest and real rather than glossy and scripted. Even though the actual premise is admittedly pretty farfetched, there is a lot of truth to the emotions and human reactions, making it a very moving movie. Jenna Elfman is a real treat, she is very very gifted--who knew???? So definitely rent this movie.
Rating:
Summary: a great date movie
Review: They say Faith can move mountains. They say Faith can get you through the turmoil of life. What happens though when your Faith in God runs headlong into your Love of a woman? Can the two exist if the woman is of a different Faith? Can it exist if you are the leader of your denomination? Ed Norton's directorial debut examines this in what could be a serious movie but is a very funny romantic movie.
We start with Father Brian Finn, Ed Norton, stumbling drunk and landing in an all night bar. He ends up telling the story to a world-weary bartender who claims to have heard it all. The bartender knew he had heard it all when it started with, "There's this Priest and a Rabbi..." Actually the story doesn't start there though.
Approximately 16 years early Brian Finn and Jacob Schram, two best friends, met their soul mate Anna Riley. She was the kind of girl all boys wanted to be around, cute but not too girlish. These three are never seen without each other. Disaster strikes 2 years later when Anna's father is moved across the country to New York. The three occasionally keep in touch through letters but think that their partnership is over.
We jump to the future where the two boys have taken interesting jobs. It seems Brian and Jake, Ben Stiller, have always had a calling and that calling was to preach the word. Brian has become a Priest and Jake is now a Rabbi. Both are the hottest things to hit their respective Church's and are shaking things up with contemporary ideas. They are even jokingly known in the streets as "The God Squad." They reach some opposition from the old-line members of their respective congregations however the increased numbers at each service is hard to argue with.
One fine day Brian informs Jake that their old friend, Anna is going to be coming to New York for work and wants to get together with them. Both are stunned to find their gangly tomboyish friend has grown up to be a stunning workaholic played by Jenna Elfman.
Here's where the story really gets interesting. The three friends begin palling around again and getting to know everything about them. Anna is basically the proto-typical 2000 woman. She is so busy working that she rarely has time to go out with men in fact as she puts it, she has a relationship with her phone. Anna is more interested in getting to know about the two guys. She finds it fascinating that the two men are so dedicated to their churches and attends services at both. She also is interested in knowing how they are going to get their Catholic/Jewish Community Center opened. However what interests her the most is the men's relationship issues. She quizzes Brian about his faith and of course about his vow...the big vow...and wants to know what is going on with Jake and his women. I say women because all the women at the Synagogue are desperate to get their daughters married off to the young Rabbi. This leads to a couple of wonderful dates for Jake.
Problems occur with all this time spent together though. Brian begins to question his vows of Celibacy more and more as he is around Anna. Even more of a problem though occurs between Anna and Jake as they fall in love. This wouldn't be too much of a problem if Jake was just your normal attendee of the Synagogue however being a Rabbi up for his own church? Well let's just say it isn't looked upon too well to be going out with a blonde Irish girl if you want to lead a Synagogue.
Since this is a Romantic/Comedy we know how it is going to end. The pleasure of the movie is watching how they get there. All three actors deliver superb performances. We knew Ed Norton was a great actor but Ben Stiller and Jenna Elfman more than stand with him in terms of comedic timing and drama. I was doubly impressed that Jenna, unlike some other television actresses, was able to successfully shed her television persona for a new gig.
The dialogue was rapid fire and funny. The timing of the movie was also well paced. We had seen early evidence of Ed Norton's abilities when he helped out trimming down American History X and he continues to do a great job with the reins fully in his hands. This was definitely worth full price at the theater and is a great Date Movie.
Rating:
Summary: DVD has great extras for this charming movie
Review: This is one of those films that you just fall into. Like one of my other favorites, The Cutting Edge, the movie was modest at the box office but came out like gangbusters when it came out on video. That is how I discovered the film. I remember seeing the ads and cringing slightly, knowing there was going to be a romantic theme and Edward Norton played a Catholic priest. Norton and Ben Stiller as his best friend, a Jewish Rabbi, have great chemistry. Add Jenna Elfman as their favorite "girl" friend from childhood and you've got yourself a romantic triangle. Of course, I knew how the movie was going to end up at the end, but I still enjoyed it. The DVD has deleted scenes and a blooper reel that is hilarious.
Rating:
Summary: Affable and innocent. Runs a bit too long.
Review: Edward Norton burst on the scene by playing a psychopathic killer in 1996's Primal Fear. His reputation was secured afterwards by his performances as a reformed neo-Nazi in American History X and as the nameless narrator in Fight Club. it is perhaps not so surprising that he chose to balance this tendency towards seriousness by choosing a romantic comedy for his first directorial job. The result is Keeping the Faith, an affable and charming movie whose main fault is its rather long running time. This is a weakness common among actors turned director. It was probably inevitable that Norton should also do this, as his best friend, Stuart Blumberg, wrote the script. More on that later. Brian Finn and Jake Scram [Norton and Ben Stiller] have been friends since childhood. Brian is an Irish Catholic lad, while Jake is a Jew. In the marvelous melting pot that is New York City, this is not at all an uncommon union. What turns out to be unusual is that Brain becomes a priest and Jake a rabbi. When they were kids, there was a third best pal, a girl named Anna Riley [Jenna Elfman]. She moved away in the eighth grade and eventually became but a memory. In the first part of the movie, Anna returns to New York and hooks up with her old buddies. She has become a beautiful and successful young woman. Jake and Brian are both smitten, and therein lies the crux of the comedy. Brian, of course, has his vow of chastity, which until Anna's arrival seems to have not been a problem for him. As for Jake, his congregation assumes that this most eligible bachelor will choose a nice Jewish girl. There is a lot of pressure on Jake, who is barraged by mothers pushing their daughters on him. In one of the movie's funniest scenes, Jake's date with Ali Decker [Lisa Edelstein] turns into one that he will never forget. How will Brian and Jake resolve the Anna dilemma, which threatens both their friendship and their careers? Isn't this a no win situation for all three? One of the movie's big advantages is that Edward Norton and Stuart Blumberg really are an Irish kid and a Jewish one being best friends. They are New Yorkers and have lived together for several years. As a result, they were able to find New York locations rarely seen on film. This give the picture a fresh look and also makes the city look much more livable than it often does. The acting is first rate, as you would expect. Norton does have a flair for comedy, although he needs to work a bit on the physical aspects of it. Ben Stiller is one of the funniest men alive, and Jenna Elfman departs for once from her famous television persona. The running time of over two hours is excessive for this type of entertainment and slows the film down, but it does not ruin it by any means. It is simply something Norton should be aware of on his next project. Perhaps the best thing about Keeping the Faith is its innocence. Lately there have been a number of often good but quite cynical comedies. It is godd to see one where you can laugh at your fellow man and still feel great about the human race.
Rating:
Summary: Faith in this Movie
Review: Nortan (Fight Club; American History X), Elfman (Sitcom "Dharma and Greg"), and Stiller (Meet the Parents) light it up in this warm-hearted comedy about 3 friends from grade school who haven't seen each other in year, now thrown back together when Elfman comes running back into their lives. Nortan and Stiller, now clergymen, (Nortan a Catholic Priest, Stiller a Jewish Rabbi) both find the old friendship they once knew in their beloved tom-boyish beauty of a friend Elfman. But throughout it all, there is denial, lying, antitrust, and a passionate love triangle forms. Now who will end up following their faith and who will end up following their hearts? Nortan, Elfman, and Stiller deliver a spectacular and heart gripping performance in this romantic comedy that shouldn't be missed by men nor women alike.
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