Keeping the Faith (2000) Ben Stiller, Edward Norton, Jenna Elfman, Anne Bancroft, Eli Wallach, Ron Rifkin, Milos Forman, Holland Taylor, Lisa Edelstein, Rena Sofer, Ken Leung, Brian George. Screenplay by Stuart Blumberg. Directed by Edward Norton. 127 minutes. Rated PG-13, 2.5 stars (out of five stars)
Review by Ed Johnson-Ott, NUVO Newsweekly www.nuvo.com Archive reviews at http://us.imdb.com/ReviewsBy?Edward+Johnson-Ott To receive reviews by e-mail at no charge, send subscription requests to ejohnsonott@prodigy.net or e-mail ejohnsonott-subscribe@onelist.com with the word "subscribe" in the subject line.
The romantic comedy, "Keeping the Faith," marks the directoral debut of Edward Norton and, as a director, Norton remains one hell of a terrific actor. Not that this is a bad film. "Keeping the Faith" boasts three appealing leads along with a host of charming supporting players. Many scenes are quite effective and the New York City production is refreshingly sunny.
But the movie is simply too much. Situations are resolved too easily. The opening segment, featuring slapstick that does not fit the characters, is too cutesy. The story is too talky and, at two hours and seven minutes, it's too long for a romantic comedy. If the infinitely more complex classic, "The Philadelphia Story," was able to tie its storylines together in 112 minutes, surely Norton could have wrapped this baby up in an hour and a half.
But first time directors are notorious for throwing in everything but the kitchen sink. And when the first time director is working from a script written by an old college buddy (Yale alum and former investment banker Stuart Blumberg), the prospect of trimming the screenplay must be especially hard.
Blumberg's story is a twist on the tried and true romantic triangle, not to mention the beginning of countless old jokes that start with "A priest and a rabbi…" Brian (Norton), Jake (Ben Stiller) and Anna (Jenna Elfman) were childhood friends until Anna moved away, leaving her pals broken-hearted. Years later, when the adult Anna returns to NYC, circumstances have changed dramatically. Brian is an idealistic priest, Jake a scrappy rabbi and Anna a high-powered executive with a cell phone growing out of her hand.
Then Jake falls for Anna, Anna falls for Jake and the two secretly begin dating, while Brian quietly falls for Anna and spends a lot more time than usual praying and keeping his hands out of his pockets. Soon, the friendship between the men begins to fray, as Jake slacks off on his work for the interfaith community center that has long been their dream project. Of course, Brian eventually learns the reason why and you can take it from there.
The premise is sturdy enough, but the principal characters talk it to death. For that matter, the supporting cast does a great deal of yammering as well. And then there are the subplots and grafted on slapstick (a rabbi who faints at a bris? Give me a break).
For the most part, Edward Norton's direction is solid, with one notable exception. About two thirds of the way through, there is an extended scene of Brian and Jake chatting outdoors. In each shot where the camera is positioned behind Brian's head facing Jake, Brian's lines are obviously dubbed in. When Jake finishes talking, we hear Brian, but his jaw either doesn't move, or moves out of synch with his lines. Come on, Norton, this is a romantic comedy, not a Godzilla movie.
As far as date movies go, "Keeping the Faith" is smarter and more genuine than most. But with a tighter script and less shtick, it could have been much, much better.
© 2000 Ed Johnson-Ott
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