Keeping the Faith

Keeping the Faith

Keeping the Faith

This is a serious yet silently funny film about love and friendship. The three friends met in school and they meet again after about ten years, all grown-up and beautiful. The two boys have chosen to become a rabbi and a priest and the girl is corporate career girl. The two boys falls even more in love with her than their original friendship-love. The acting is good. Anne Bancroft as the rabbi's mother is interesting. Milos Forman as the older priest is also interesting. This is the first film in which I was aware of him as an actor. Jenna Elfman, Ben Stiller and Edward Norton is all very good, if not better than I ever saw them before. The ending is sweet and sorrow in some aspects. I cried and laughed a lot when I saw this lovely film. Handkerchiefs is a must when watching this film.

The number one example, I can think of, of a movie so disappointingly mediocre at first, which becomes better and better upon each successive viewing. Norton and Stiller are both solid, and the movie makes you think for a few moments that Ed Norton might not be the utter asshole we all think he is. A solid supporting cast including Anne Bancroft, Ron Rifkin, Milos Foreman all aide the movie, but Jenna Elfman proves to be the crux of the film. Often she is annoyingly hyper, but in this movie, each viewing makes her more and more lovable. Watch it once, you'll think I'm an idiot. Watch it twice, you'll probably still think I'm an idiot. But by the third time (including partial, TV, viewings), you'll see the way.

This is supposed to strike the audience as novel -- interfaith romance complicated by a love triangle complicated by life-long friendship. Yet the structure and content are completely conventional. All of the writing is sitcom fluff, and all of the self-reference is obvious. This genre relies on giving the movie audience a sense of participation, of validating the on-screen romance. One audience in this film is confronted with notions of guilt and the intent is to leverage that emotion in us, the movie audience. To complete the arc, a second audience is 'on speaker phone' with the couple. They cheer, so we are supposed to cheer. Totally risk-free and sufficient for the genre, nothing more.

This excellent movie is probably also my favorite. It's fresh, fun, and extremely well-written. All of the actors shine throughout this hilarious comedy. Its plot is also very realistic and the dilemmas the characters face hit close to home. There is more intelligence and truth behind this movie than some other Ben Stiller films, probably because he was met with this problem when dating his non-Jewish wife-to-be, Christine Taylor. This clever and fun romantic comedy will steal your heart. 5 stars.

First, I thought that "Keeping the Faith" was a good film, because it was directed by E. Norton,who is my friends fave actor and she keeps telling me how good actor he is. Wrong, the film was totally crap! It was a typical American film, that didn't give you anything. The plot was dull, you could easily quess what was happening next. It was annoying that all characters were so beatiful and succesfull in their lives, like "Dharma". I prefer more realistic films,French or British, where you can see real people and not these "bold and beautiful"-types. And moreover the film wasn't funny at all, but stupid.

This is a first and foremost a chick flick but there are some hilarious scenes dotted through out this movie that make it worth watching. Stiller never fails to make me laugh and Jenna Elfman is absolutely stunning. Certainly worth a look.

A very impressive directorial debut from Mr Norton. A superb cast and a great soundtrack. Norton and Stiller are masterful and Jenna Elfman compliments them both well. Impeccable performances from Bancroft and Wallach, as one would expect. From a personal point of view, having never been to NYC, it certainly entices me to go. All in all a very pleasant way to spend 128 minutes!