KEEPING THE FAITH (2000)
Grade: B-
Director: Edward Norton
Screenplay: Stuart Blumberg
Starring: Ben Stiller, Jenna Elfman, Edward Norton, Anne Bancroft, Milos Foreman, Ken Leung, Kryss Anderson, Eli Wallach, Ron Rifkin, Rena Sofer, Lisa Edelstein,
I could picture Paul Mazursky (NEXT STOP GREENWICH VILLAGE, BLUME IN LOVE, TEMPEST) making this film in the 70's, possibly casting Richard Benjamin in the Ben Stiller role and Donald Sutherland in the Edward Norton role. He would give the film an edge, address ideological concerns, and make us laugh. Norton, who also directed, just makes us laugh, and I'm not the least bit ungrateful (well maybe a wee bitsy bit) but it would seem that an actor so edgy in his roles (from THE FIGHT CLUB to AMERICAN HISTORY X) would want to do more than make what feels like an homage to the innocuous fare of Rob Reiner and Gary Marshall. But like I said, it made me laugh, so I'll excuse Norton for aiming lower than I would have preferred.
In KEEPING THE FAITH Ben Stiller plays Jake, a renegade rabbi (yes, you did read that correctly) eager to jazz up those "boring" religious services with some unconventional techniques like group meditation and even inviting a gospel chorus to belt out prayers. Meanwhile nearly every female member of the congregation is just itching to get into Jake's tallas. Norton gives himself the decidedly bland role of Brian the priest, a character who mostly functions as Jake's best friend. These two are childhood chums along with a third, Anna, a sweet Irish girl who moved away just when the trio's friendship was blossoming. She returns fifteen years later to meet them in New York. Now the sweet little girl is a beautiful blonde businesswoman played by Jenna Elfman, who is getting less and less annoying with every consecutive picture she appears in (see her at her most irritating in a movie I'm still trying to forget, KRIPPENDORF'S TRIBE…even typing that title conjures up awful celluloid reminisces). Though both men develop crushes on their old friend, Jake is the one who gets lucky when Anna reveals that she has similar feelings for him. They begin a love affair without telling Brian.
The film works mostly on the strengths of its performers. Norton shines, proving as adept at physical comedy and clever witticisms as he is at controlled intensity. Milos Foreman (who directed Norton in THE PEOPLE VS LARRY FLYNT) effectively fulfils all the requisite duties as Brian's wise old mentor. Anne Bancroft is thankfully restrained as the Jewish mother, a type of role that many an actress (Hello Shelly Winters!) have gleefully over-exaggerated. Jake's prospective paramour's are well played by the very funny Lisa Edelstein as a fitness buff who asks Jake to punch her, and Catherine Zeta Jones look-alike Rena Sofer as a self-involved news anchor who seems completely intoxicated by her own good looks. Elfman is unusually charming, and judging from her performance here, I can actually see myself warming up to her as a leading lady.
KEEPING THE FAITH also generates some (unintentional) laughter from a severe height difference between the statuesque Elfman and midget-like Stiller. In the awful film version of FRANKIE AND JOHNNY (directed by Gary Marshall) the crew reportedly had to dig ditches to put Michelle Phieffer in, in order for her love interest, the diminutive Al Pacino, to appear her height. Stiller gets no such consideration, instead he must hop around Elfman looking like a little puppy dog angling for a kiss. The actor, who I found enormously annoying just six years ago in REALITY BITES, has grown into a rather likeable comic leading man. He has mastered the witty-hang-dog charm of (take your pick) John Cusack and Robert Downy Jr., and let go of the faux-Woody Allen impersonation that brought down the bar on most of his early performances. Despite the unintentional (I think) sight gag of Stiller and Elfman (a visual I will picture in my head whenever I feel glum) those two do generate a considerable amount of chemistry, unlike Julia Roberts and the blinking, stuttering mess that is Hugh Grant in NOTTING HILL. Compared to NOTTING HILL and most other contemporary studio romantic comedies, KEEPING THE FAITH is a winner. Its cast has appeal to spare, but I couldn't help but wish they were using it at the service of a more challenging screenplay. There are so many directions in which this story could have gone that it disappoints me a little to see it take such a worn out route. How about a love story between the priest and the rabbi? This is not only new, but we still have the sight gag of a tiny Stiller bounding around a towering (by comparison) Norton. Or maybe a SHAMPOO-like comic character study, but instead of a womanizing hairdresser, a womanizing rabbi. Stiller's performance hints slightly at low key insolence, he could be the kind of guy capable of taking advantage of all the affection his ardent female fans offer him. I would have liked to see that taken somewhere. But alas we must settle for predictability.
The characters go and do what we expect. They follow an outline, though Norton and writer Stuart Blumberg make them mostly intelligent, funny, and charming, even added comic relief from a wily Asian salesman (a hilarious Tony Leung) and an Indian\Irish bartender work, when in most films they wouldn't rise above annoyingly insincere caricatures. Here they are still caricatures, but fun caricatures, given entertaining post millennium multi-cultural back-stories. Norton gets a hand full of kudos for making good use of the New York City locale; a city known for its richness in diverse ethnicities, a fact that Woody Allen's films always ignore. Allen sees New York as a haven for elitist Jews rather than the cultural melting pot it is.
But I still feel Norton missed out on an opportunity to make a substantive comic drama about opposing religions between pals, the kind of film we would remember in the future the way many recall the THE GRADUATE or CARNAL KNOWLEDGE. Instead he chose to make a product, one that is glossy, well made, and amusing, but one that feels manufactured rather than from the heart.
Despite all my caveats I still find myself, days after watching the film, thinking about and smiling at Stiller's wry delivery or Leung's chuckle worthy rendition of Rick Springfield's JESSE'S GIRL. If I weren't so damn picky I'd probably give the film a solid B, but then I'd be plagued with guilt so we'll leave it as it is. And as it is it looks as if Edward Norton would like to follow in the footsteps of Rob Reiner, which is something you can take however you wish.
http://www.geocities.com/incongruity98 Reeling (Ron Small)
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