Product: Keeping the Faith (2000)
Rating: 4.0
Conflicts when worlds collide
This is an interesting movie of three nice and decent people whose settled inter-relationship in one stage of life is suddenly and unexpectedly threatened in another stage. Many of us are lucky enough to make lasting friendships in school; sadly for one reason or another (relocation, different colleges, varying careers), many of these friendships fade away.This is a story of two boys and a girl whose friendship as children was as good as it could get. Now years later, the boys are into religion: one (Norton) an ordained Catholic priest working with youth, the other (Stiller) a Jewish rabbi �auditioning� for a congregation. Meanwhile, in a nice little twist, the girl (Elfman) has become a high powered businesswoman. The movie explores what happens when they meet again. The friendship is every bit as good as it used to be � the days seem hardly to have passed. But as adults, they have new priorities, new ambitions that complicate the picture. Happy as Norton is with his vocation, Elfman awakens questions in him (of relationships, of marriage, of sex) that he thought were settled, but in fact has no answers for. Stiller has other problems with his evident attraction to Elfman and hers� for him. A rabbi unlike a priest is free (in fact almost expected!) to marry; yet marriage to a girl who is not Jewish (she is catholic) would jeopardize his ambition to be rabbi of an influential congregation where he can make a difference. Both Norton and Stiller are simultaneously battling conservative elders to draw more youth to their respective services. Elfman herself seems to be weighing career and family options. These are no perfect cut-outs; they are basically decent people with human flaws. Faced with choices that impact their fundamental beliefs, they struggle, make mistakes, hurt themselves and each other. The ending may be predictable, but they way Norton (who also directs) gets to the end is top quality. The film is filled with vignettes of humor. It does not preach but tries to understand the terrible conflicts that arise when worlds collide. I enjoyed the movie and before I end, let me recommend the bonus scene on the DVD of Anna and the vibrating cell phone (I will not say more lest I spoil it for you) which is hilarious.