Release Date: April 14, 2000
Starring: Ben Stiller, Edward Norton, Jenna Elfman, Anne Bancroft, Ron Rifkin, Milos Forman
Directed by: Edward Norton
Distributed by: Buena Vista Pictures
MPAA Rating: PG-13 (some sexuality, language)
It's probably to be expected that a film which so obviously borrows its title from one of pop icon Billy Joel's tunes will take a similarly mainstream view of organized religion and the struggles faced by men of the cloth. Even still, there is the hope going into Keeping the Faith that director Edward Norton will steer the Stuart Bloomberg script away from all of the prototypical Hollywood potholes and into more vibrant, thematic territory.
It doesn't happen. Keeping the Faith is a bread-and-butter romance that takes, as its main vehicle, the love triangle. The vertices of that amorous polygon are Father Brian Finn (Norton), a priest; Rabbi Jacob Schram (Ben Stiller), a rabbi; and Anna Reilly (Jenna Elfman), a tall, sexy blonde who seems to have no religious affiliation whatsoever. Now, the obvious question is "How can a priest be part of a love story?" Or perhaps, given the presence of a priest and a rabbi, the more appropriate remark is one made by a bartender to Norton's priest in the opening scene: "I think I've heard this one before ..."
Initially, though, it appears as though this one hasn't been told before. Father Finn, Rabbi Schram, and Anna have been friends since childhood, but Anna moved away to California in the eighth grade and is only now looking to catch up with her two favorite holy men of Gotham. Anna is not the tomboy they remember, though, and both men take turns lusting after her. But Brian's priesthood prevents him from making a move and Jacob finds things awkward because Anna isn't Jewish.
In this regard, the film takes both faiths too lightly, especially given the New York City setting. Catholicism is a strongly traditional faith, and numerous times throughout the film Norton's Finn is portrayed as an upbeat, progressive priest in contrast with the strongly entrenched ideas of the Church. Judaism, similarly, is heavily linked with tradition, and Jacob's superiors chastise his forward-thinking methods of increasing congregational involvement too lightly. Eventually, his religious commitment becomes a stumbling block in his touch-and-go love affair with Anna, but by then it doesn't make sense for the movie to play things straight.
That falling out comes late in the movie's two-hour running time, and it only aids in sinking the back end. The opening, too, is excessively ponderous, taking too long to find its rhythm and invoking the frowned-upon voice-over as a means of setting the stage. The result is that the passable middle finds itself bookended by two lesser segments.
The final downhill comes when Norton's character betrays the integrity of itself and chases after Anna -- this isn't the sort of thing the audience expects from a priest who's had several years on the job and certainly has survived temptations of this manner before. Norton, for all his worth, plays the character well, and it's the best performance in the movie. Even though he's billed second, he employs the subtlety of a fourth- or fifth-billed star in stark contrast of his colleagues. Stiller is unproven in the lead and is constantly on the move trying to keep up with the perky Elfman. She, on the other hand, is desperately begging to be paid attention to, and often drowns out her screenmates. The love triangle that the movie wants the viewer to buy barely manages to stay intact throughout the film.
Overall, Keeping the Faith lacks the gusto to stay away from the expected. Once the appropriate elements have been put in play -- somewhere around the middle of the movie -- the long downhill slide is very predictable. Fans of Edward Norton may find themselves a bit entertained by his directorial debut, even though an actor of this quality ought to have been able to do a little better, while those viewers who have no rooting interest will have trouble keeping the faith altogether.
all contents © 2000 Craig Roush