Keeping the Faith

Rating:
Summary: A sweet romantic movie that deserves a viewing.
Review: Remember that joke about the Rabbi and the Priest? Well, someone in Hollywood decided to make a movie out of it and while the casual observer may think that it would be difficult to make a successful movie on such a flimsy topic, it works and pulls at your heartstrings.

Jake Schramm and Brian Finn had been friends since their childhood. Every since they were kids Jakes has wanted to be a rabbi. He even had a set of All-Star Rabbi collecting cards! Brian has also been religious his whole life. Growing up as kids, a tomgirl by the name of Anna Riley came into their little New York life and soon the 3 became inseperable. However, fate would have it that Anna's parents were moving to the sunshine of California, crushing the bond between the three friends.

Still, life goes on and 20 years later, we catch up with the two hip religious figures, now serving their own faiths as Priest and Rabbi. One of the subplots is that they want to build a Inter-faith community center because they feel that if they can be friends, religious denomination should not a dividing point amongst people. Jake is the dating phase, being set up by every Jewish mother and her sister, while Brian is living a satisfying celibate life with God as his companion.

However this is turned upside down when Anna, on a business trip to New York, calls them up to catch up. She has turned into a radiant business woman who has kept enough of her quirkiness to make her irresistible to both men. Jake, who starts dating her, begins to develop commit issues because she is not Jewish (which might affect his chance of becoming head rabbi at his synagogue) and Brian begins questioning his faith in the Catholism because he has fallen in love so hard that he feels he has lost his commitment to religion.

All three characters are played well. Jenna Elfman is the best as the irresistable Anna Riley. She gives her character so much charisma and is luminous on screen. Edward Norton is also very good as the sensitive priest who becomes hurt and discouraged when he realizes what he thought was sexual flirtation is actually just playfulness. Ben Stiller plays the it straight as the Rabbi, but he tends to become "less than a man" as he whines through his dilemma about interfaith relationships.

All three of them have tremendous amounts of chemistry (as friends and lovers) and it makes the movie even more endearing. So, when this movie comes out near Halloween and you are sick of watching yet another slasher brain-drain flick, give this movie a chance....Rating: B+

ps: Don the Crazy Chinese Karoake salesperson steals the movie! He is well played Ken Leung.

Rating:
Summary: Hilarious mix of religious and ethnic humor
Review: Stiller, Elfman, and Norton star in a comic tale of a love triangle between 3 best friends, a rabbi, priest, and their shared childhood sweetheart. Co-starring Ann Bancroft as Stiller's mother, the movie is filled with great one liners and humorous twists, jesting at both Catholicism and Judaism without ever being insulting or derogatory.

Rating:
Summary: Good, but it dragged
Review: Over all, I think the only truly funny moments in the movie was when Norton and Stiller were children. This movie is over two hours long, that is just a little too long for a comedy. It dragged quite a bit.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic and Funny!
Review: I don't care what the "professional" reviewer above says, this movie was wonderful. All of the stars were great and it was treat to see the beautiful Anne Bancroft again. The movie was great - funny, sweet and 100% enjoyable. I can't wait to get my copy!

Rating:
Summary: FUNNY!
Review: Keeping the Faith is one of the funniest made about people who run the church because of its funny comedy that goes with it. Jake (Rabbi) and Bryan (Priest)hear that their grade school sweetheart is comming in to town for a business trip. Jake and Bryan are best friends and are fighting over her. They both play jokes on each other to see who gets her.

Rating:
Summary: GREAT MOVIE!
Review: This was definatly one of the funniest movies that I have seen all year. It has a great cast and Ed Norton's directing is simply wonderful! If you have to see one movie this year, see Keeping the Faith.

Rating:
Summary: A most entertaining movie
Review: This is a most wonderful movie with an excellent cast. I was drawn to this movie as a fan of Edward Norton's and he really shines as actor, producer and director. I laughed myself silly throughout certain parts of the movie and it had a fantastic balance of humour and the more serious aspects of religion. I felt that the emotions between the three of them was played perfectly and although some things were somewhat predictable, it was thoroughly enjoyable. After seeing the 'shorts' I thought that there may not be too much of a story to it but before I knew it, the movie was over and I found myself wishing it wasn't. I loved it! PS. That Rainman scene is pretty funny .... gotta love Edward Norton.

Rating:
Summary: Ben Stiller - yes please!
Review: This movie starred three of the most likeable characters you could ever want. Anna is very cute, natural and down to earth, while the two groovy religious leaders are just... great. The sexual tension between Anna and the Rabbi/Anna and the Priest was just overwhelmingly good - better than I've seen in quite a few years. The little secret looks and gestures make you feel like you know what each one is going through.

I liked the way the movie portrayed religious faiths as being for real, imperfect people - not just for idiots, as most movies and TV shows portray it. The movie did end up going for quite a long time, but it had an interesting way of tying up the loose ends.

Ben Stiller had that mysterious... something that makes him so entirely lovable and attractive - definitely want to see more of him!

An enjoyable film - perfect for that Friday night date with the local minister!

Rating:
Summary: Very nice and funny romantic-comedy
Review: Edward Norton stars, directs and co-produces this funny little romantic-comedy. Edward Norton stars as a priest, Ben Stiller stars as a rabbi. They are the best of friends, have been since childhood. The one day a girl from their past comes back named Anna (Jenna Elfman) and she is just a knockout. The prieset and the rabbi both fall in love with her. The priest can't marry her because he simply can't marry, the rabbi can't marry her because she's not Jewish and it would be breaking down tradition. So it's a viscious circle. Very funny, the perfect date movie with a nice spin. The only thing I did not enjoy was after thirty minutes you knew who she was going to end up with so...it kind of blows it away. But besides that it's pretty good. Also stars Ron Rifkin, Anne Bancroft and Milos Forman.

Rating:
Summary: Entertaining....Different...Surprising
Review: I feel like maybe I expected too much out of this movie, but I came out of the theater with a totally different experience than I had expected; not necessarily worse but different. Edward Norton was great, understandably, as well as Elfman and Stiller. Usually this is the part where I say comedies aren't supposed to be Shakespeare and this stuff won't change your life, but Keeping The Faith is different; you can laugh one minute and think deeply about the way you're living your life. This isn't the best movie I've ever seen; I'd even go as far as calling it a bit too long, but if you're looking for Jim Carrey comedy (pre-Truman Show, that is), this isn't for you. This is a touching comedy, that's really comedy. A better overall film than I'd expected. Nice work from Norton, Elfman, and Stiller. 4 Stars.