Product: Keeping the Faith (2000)
Rating: 3.0
hit and miss comedy
Edward Norton's directorial debut, "Keeping the Faith" dishes out one of those plots that only Hollywood - in its desperation to bring a fresh approach to a stale genre - would ever dare to come up with. In this love triangle with a "twist," Ben Stiller, Edward Norton and Jenna Elfman portray a trio of best friends who grew up together on the streets of New York City, but who were separated in adolescence when Anna moved away with her family to California. The unique aspect of this particular triumvirate is that, while Anna has been away on the west coast forging a lucrative career in business for herself, Brian has become a priest and Jake has become a rabbi. Now all three are in their '30 and Anna has decided to pay her "buddies" a visit - a move that sets the story up for all the interpersonal and emotional complications that are practically de rigueur for a "Jules and Jim" scenario of this sort.Given the rather incredible nature of the premise, "Keeping the Faith" still manages to generate some interest with the uniqueness of its religious context. Like most American movies that attempt to deal with issues of spirituality and religion, "Keeping the Faith" spends most of its time batting away at the edges of the topic rather than getting right in there and really opening up the subject for us. Indeed, very few commercial American films are even willing to tackle or explore in any great depth the role that religion and spirituality play in the lives of people, so we should at least give "Keeping the Faith" credit for trying. Of course, much of the tension in the film is supposed to be generated by the fact that one point of this triangle (the priest, Brian) has pulled himself out of the equation - or has he? But if the truth be told, the love triangle, which takes center stage in the film, is actually far less interesting than the issues of faith, of tradition vs. relevance, of spiritual commitment on the part of both clergy and laypeople that the film at least sporadically addresses.Almost inevitably, with a film this lightweight in tone, "Keeping the Faith" seems from time to time to be afflicted with a severe case of the "cutes," particularly when it succumbs to the "golly gee, people of the cloth are just regular folk like the rest of us" syndrome that seems somehow unavoidable in films like this. Thus, despite their clerical status, Jake and Brian cuss, drink alcohol, play basketball, sing karaoke etc. just to show us what regular guys they are. We've seen this sort of religious iconoclasm used for comic effect so many times before that it has long since lost the ability to amuse.Where the film does excel, though, is in its exploration of the issue (faced by many churches and synagogues, no doubt) of whether tradition alone can sustain a viable congregation or whether unorthodox methods may be needed to reach and retain a more "entertainment-oriented" generation of worshippers. Many times in the film, I found myself wishing that the story would concentrate less on the rigmarole surrounding the love triangle itself and more on issues like these. However, even within the confines of the romantic nature of the story, the filmmakers do manage to touch, if only superficially, on the issues of Catholic priest celibacy and interfaith marriages.Stiller, Norton and Elfman give generally naturalistic performances, though none of them are forced to stretch their talents too much in these roles. Interestingly, famed director Milos Forman shows up as a wise old priest who sets Brian straight on the thorny issue of celibacy."Keeping The Faith" probably would have been a better film had it dealt with the same issues in a less frivolous and trivial context than is provided for them here. Still, we should, I suppose, be thankful that any American film is willing to acknowledge religion and spirituality as part of our lives at all. "Keeping the Faith" is, therefore, well worth checking out.