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Keeping the Faith

Keeping the Faith

List Price: $14.99
Your Price: $11.99
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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Lost faith
Review: Was this movie really only two hours? It seemed like four! After laughing a few times, I kept trying to see my watch with the theater's dim light. I waited for the movie to get better...it never did. The goal of opening an interfaith music hall is ironic considering Ben Stiller's character feels its ok to meet interfaith but leave alone. The more I think about this movie, the more I dislike it. If Jenna Elfman wasn't so all-around spectacular, I'd REALLY hate this movie!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Witty and cute vehicle for Norton, Elfman, and Stiller
Review: This is a funny funny movie. Run, do not walk to the nearest movie theater playing "Keeping the Faith." I consider it the classy counterpart to "There's Something About Mary" (which personally grossed me out). I prefer witty repartee to disgusting antics and this film worked very well for me. And like the first reviewer on this page, I wanted a different ending too! This is a cute film to see if you want to see Edward Norton play something a little more upbeat than his other characters - a former skinhead, a underground poker player, an accused killer, a lawyer, etc.

All the characters are deft at acting for sure, but Norton is exceptional as he is in all of his movies. Being a comedy I assumed going in that it was just going to be a couple laughs, and then I'd go home and never think about it again. But then Edward Norton got his hands on the film, and I was a goner. It's rare for me to see a *really really* good movie, and "Keeping the Faith" is one of them, mostly because of Norton in my opinion.

I have made it my life's duty to recommend this movie and I plan to see it again first-run. This is only the second Edward Norton flick I have seen (the other being his Golden Globe winning performance in "Primal Fear") and I am in awe of his acting ability, whatever the role. (Now the first reviewer is making me wonder how he took to a Spanish language tape, considering he speaks fluent Japanese!) He never ceases to amaze me with the emotional depth and likeability - through his honest portrayal - of his characters.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: *Fantastic movie! Funny and Romantic all rolled into one!*
Review: This movie was fantastic! Not only was it funny and romantic, but the acting was great! Also, if Ed Norton is reading this, I aplaud him for his great producing and directing in this movie, I mean, this was his first one! It was also very nice of him that he dedicated this movie to his mother.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Yah!!!EdwardNorton!!!
Review: this was a really good movie, a lot of parts were very funny. Rainman! Yes, it was every romantic comedy you have ever seen but it was better. It was a twist on the Classic RC, and took i little detor from the same old same old. Although, i don't think Ben Stiller should have got to be the happy guy. Edward Norton was supposed to be happy, not alone on the side! Still very good movie, well worth seeing. Now here is where i push all of Edward Norton's films.

See Fight Club, American History X, Rounders, Primal Fear, Everyone says i love you, and only in America(OIA is an early film he made as a teaching tool for teaching spanish speakers to speak english, if you can get your hands on it i reccomend it)

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A lot of fun
Review: A cute romantic comedy that got serious towards the middle of the second half. It really buzzed along and never made me check my watch. It touched on issues of faith without getting too ponderous, and it portrayed the priest and the rabbi as real human beings while still taking organized religion seriously. Not what you always get out of Hollywood. Jenna Elfman shows she can play someone other than Dharma.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent directorial debut for Norton!
Review: Three childhood friends--a priest, a rabbi, and a workaholic businesswoman--reunite in a tangle of romantic games. It's funny, but it plumbs deep emotional depths. Ben Stiller is funny as always, and Jenna Elfman is a spunky, admirable leading comic lady. But it's Edward Norton that brings emotional dimension to this film, not only with his excellent direction, but with his excellent portrayal of a priest falling in love. I firmly believe that Norton should receive a third Oscar nomination for his excellent acting in this film. The Academy might not remember *Keeping the Faith* come awards season, but it turned out to be so much more than I expected. This movie is definitely something special. See for yourself.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great date movie!
Review: The movie was totally enjoyable and made me laugh the entire time. If you liked There's Something About Mary, you won't laugh quite as hard, but it's very very funny. Edward Norton is great in it and so is the girl from Dharma and Greg! You'll love it if you have a sense of humor! (some don't)

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Mismatch and Mishmosh
Review: How important is casting to the success of a movie? In some cases, not particularly; in others it can be crucial. In an action movie, the actor must be strong, agile and competent; in a story about genius or advanced technology, the actor must be superbly verbal and convincing; in a love story, the actor and actress must somehow "match". This is a problem in "Keeping the Faith".

In a similar mismatch, the Ben Stiller/Cameron Diaz pairing didn't didn't seem to bother too many people in "Something About Mary" since it was a huge box office success. Some casting genius who thought maybe that was the reason for the success here repeats the moronic mismatch and puts him together with Jenna Elfman. For this filmgoer, it comes close to sinking this movie.

But for some of its serious themes and a smattering of good comedy, it might have. The three main characters are introduced to us as children, when they formed a gleeful trio in their junior years, ending when the girl was removed from New York and taken west by her parents. 16 years later, she returns as a hugely successful business manager.

The reunion is so awkward, the chemistry between the actors (Stiller, Elfman and Edward Norton, also directing) so non-existent, that one wishes, at this time in the movie, for the return of the child actors who preceded them. (Blyth Auffarth played the younger Anna with outstanding personality and verve, splendidly matching Elfman's). Staying in one's seat, however, had a few rewards. Mainly, Elfman.

Elfman (Anna Reilly) is an actress worth keeping an interest in. She has a unique take and manner of expression while being elegantly smashing looking. She has an off-beat quality reminiscent of Posey Parker; a pixiesh beauty not unlike Anne Heche; good comedic timing and, in movies, she's completely underexposed -- making her even more attractive. If this film takes off, we'll be seeing much more of her, one hopes.

One also hopes she's had her last of chemical and physical imbalances like being cast opposite the likes of Stiller, who would be better matched to a Tracy Ullman, for example. Being presented with the notion that someone at all like Elfman could be physically attracted to him is a complete misrepresentation of romantic reality.

Besides the love story element, the movie is very much about faith... religious faith. After all, Stiller is a rabbi (Jacob Schram) and Norton is a priest (Father Brian Finn). They are also best friends, and the movie's other theme is expressed as a desire to spread the message of unity in a world of diversity. This helps to give some credibility to the effort, despite the romantic mishmosh but, while a couple of the sermons were heartfelt, the pushiness of the religious message was, eventually, too much for the entertainment context.

Also creditable is a good supporting cast, notably in the parts of the karaoke equipment salesman and the Punjabi bartender with in-laws from across the globe and the religious spectrum. Thanks to them for some comedic hilarity.

Written by Stuart Blumberg ("MAD TV"). Touchstone Pictures.

Rated M&M, for Mismatch and Mishmosh.

~~ The Filmiliar Cineaste

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: a cute, funny movie
Review: i wasn't expecting much from this movie, but it turned into a really enjoyable 2 hours. edward norton & jenna elfman are amazing in it, as is the new york city scenery. the scenes with the young brian & jacob teaching each other about their religions are really funny, as is the great, but really short, scene when ben stiller gets mad at jenna elfman's phone.

in all, it's definately one of the best romantic comedies so far this year.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A priest, a rabbi and a girl named Anna
Review: "Keeping the Faith" is Edward Norton's debut as a director and he is does a good job. The story starts out funny. Norton (a priest) sits in a bar telling a story to an Irish/Sikh/muslim/jewish bartender about how he and his best rabii-friend (Stiller) are fighting over a girl. Well, you have to see for yourself, it's funny. Jenna Elfman is so incredibly beautiful and funny in this movie, who wouldn't fall for her!?

The end of the film is a little too serious to my taste, even though we could have known that something like this would happen. It gives a little dark edge to an otherwise fun movie.


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