Keeping the Faith

Note to readers: this review contains spoilers. Those who wish to see Keeping the Faith without having previous knowledge of certain plot elements would do well to bail out now and return after they have seen the film.

Despite being a relative failure as a romantic comedy, Edward Norton's directorial debut, Keeping the Faith, still manages to entertain - at least some of the time. There is a fundamental and easily identifiable flaw in this movie - the primary romantic pairing misses the mark. Forcing these two characters together represents a bad payoff. As a result, despite all of the saccharine cheer and good will permeating the final ten minutes, Keeping the Faith concludes on a false and dissatisfying note.

At the foundation of the story is the friendship between a Catholic priest, Brian Finn (Edward Norton), and a Jewish rabbi, Jacob Schram (Ben Stiller). These two have been as close as brothers since boyhood, when there was a third member of their little group - a tomboy named Anna Reilly who was "the perfect friend that every 13-year old dreams of - a combination of Johnny Quest and Tatum O'Neal." Now, decades later, a grown-up and work-obsessed Anna (Jenna Elfman) has returned to New York City to complete a job (she's a "plumber for leaky businesses"). While there, she finds time in her busy schedule to look up her old friends. However, after a few pregnant glances, her relationship with one of them quickly transcends the platonic level. Meanwhile, the other one secretly pines for her.

For Edward Norton, this is his first official time behind the camera (some have argued that Norton had a significant hand in directing American History X), and it isn't a sterling debut. Oddly, Norton's work here as an actor occasionally hampers what he's trying to do as a director. His character of Brian is so likable that he's the one we're rooting for when it comes to winning Anna's affections, even though the script is setting up the formula to favor a Jacob/Anna match. There's also a problem with chemistry. Stiller and Elfman don't have any. There's no heat, no fire, no spark - not even a feeble puff of smoke. Norton, on the other hand, connects with both of them. Of course, the fact that he's playing a Catholic priest complicates matters. And, while the film pays lip service to the "choice" he may have to make (continuing his vocation or abandoning his vows for the girl), it never really takes this aspect of the story seriously. The script makes it clear that Brian's priesthood is a plot device that can be pressed into service or abandoned at will.

Stiller plays his usual sadsack self, once again emphasizing that he may be the best successor to Woody Allen. In this case, Jewishness wars with love. Jacob wants to be with Anna but is afraid his congregation and mother (an acerbic Anne Bancroft) won't accept his entering a relationship with a Gentile. In another film, this might have lead to an interesting conflict, but not here, because the resolution is a facile cheat. Like every other plot thread in Keeping the Faith, this one is wrapped up in a neat little package and coated with far too much sugar.

Jenna Elfman is a disappointment. The "Darma and Greg" actress, who exuded charisma in her previous big-screen outing (EdTV), has some good early scenes, then fades fast. After an initial outburst of spunk, Anna implodes into a two-dimensional stereotype. She's not interesting, and Elfman doesn't do anything to invigorate the part. Plus, for whatever reason, Norton and cinematographer Anastas N. Michos are overly fond of Elfman close-ups. Hardly a scene goes by when we aren't given a chance to count the pores on her forehead. On one or two occasions, this approach reaps dividends, but, after a while, it becomes visually repetitive and tiresome.

In the category of unexpected pleasures, it would be unfair not to mention actor Ken Leung who plays Don the Karaoke salesman. With his high energy comic performance, Leung steals both scenes he appears in, delivering solid laughs along the way and making audience members wish Norton had made a movie about his character instead of about the rabbi, the priest, and the girl caught between them.

It's difficult, if not impossible, to sustain any sort of comic momentum for 129 minutes. That's one reason almost all of the best comedies clock in with running lengths far below the two-hour mark. Keeping the Faith could have used a more ambitious editor; proceedings drag, especially during the second half. And, while the movie has its share of amusing moments and effective punchlines, too many of the jokes are recycled. There's nothing new about a rabbi fainting at a bris. Or someone asking to be punched hard in the stomach, then crumbling when it happens. Or something that happens in a confession booth being misunderstood by others.

I'm sure the concepts underlying Keeping the Faith look good on paper, but not all of them translate well to the screen. Several key dramatic elements are poorly resolved. The comedy is only sporadically funny. And the romance offers a solution that is going to leave some audience members unhappy. Keeping the Faith wants to be a crowd-pleaser, but it lacks the tools to achieve that goal.

© 2000 James Berardinelli