Touchstone and Beyond: "Keeping the Faith"
Marquee Attraction: Keeping the Faith
Release Date: June 10, 2000
Budget: $29 million
Domestic Box Office Gross: $37,047,880
Worldwide Box Office Gross: $59,945,183
Plot Synopsis:
Jake and Brian have been lifelong friends with Anna since 7th grade. Now adults, Jake is a rabbi, and Brian is a catholic priest. While the two friends are making inroads with their congregants, Anna comes back to New York and the friendship reforms just like their youth.
It only takes a few weeks, and Jake and Anna start dating. Their relationship blooms, and as Anna falls in love with Jake, the rabbi is struggling to have the same feelings.
Brian has taken a vow of celibacy, but his love for Anna is causing him to question his devotion to his faith, even when Anna calls him when her relationship with Jake hits a roadblock. Brian confesses his love for Anna, which leads to a fight between the priest and rabbi.
Can the two men of faith reconcile their own personal fracture over their shared love for one woman? Is there a future for Jake and Anna?
Standing Ovation
Norton and Stiller are a perfect pair, and they have brought an authentic friendship to the screen that is often lacking in buddy comedies.
Edward Norton plays one the most charming characters of his career. He has godly magic of being the priest people would want, and the best friend anyone would wish they had since they were a kid.
The joke referring to Scientology during Brian’s confession to the bartender is hilarious.
When Jake is trying to get past the security guard at Anna’s building near the end of the film, it is hilarious. The cherry on this scene is when Jake is running to reunite with Anna, the security guard clotheslines him.
Time for the Hook
I like the Anna character a lot, but her need to change to match what Jake wants is not very progressive. I would have preferred to have seen Anna take the job in San Francisco, and Jake to go with her, not have Anna give up her job and convert to Judaism just to make Jake happy.
Brian’s misreading of his friendship with Anna is wrong. He blames her for sending signals that she wanted him when she didn’t, and Brian is getting away with blaming her for his own inadequacies. His heart is broken, but it’s not Anna’s fault, and he should stop blaming her.
Bit Part Player
Ron Rifkin as Larry Friedman. He is everywhere, and always makes his characters memorable, even if they are small bit parts.
Did You Know?
- On opening weekend, the film grossed over eight million dollars.
- The movie was nominated for multiple awards, and Norton won the Best Feature Film award from the Street Film Festival in Milan.
- The Tokyo International Film Festival awarded Stuart Blumberg a Best Screenplay Award.
- This film was Norton’s directorial feature, and he dedicated the film to his mother.
- Director Milos Forman appears in the film as Father Havel.
- Stuart Blumberg has a small role as Len, a co-worker of Anna’s.
- Touchstone Pictures synergy is at its best in the film, when Jake and Anna go to the movies, they are watching another Touchstone film, When a Man Loves a Woman.
- The DVD has multiple deleted scenes, as well as a gag reel and extended sermons from Jake.
- Lisa Edelstein, from House, plays Jake’s date Ali.
- The businessman that Anna spies on is played by Bodhi Elfman, Jenna’s husband.
Best Quotable Line
This one comes from Father Brian Finn. “Sometimes we don’t see certain things until we’re ready to see them in a certain way." It’s a good quote with a lot of depth.
Bill’s Hot Take
Unless it is slapstick comedy, Ben Stiller does not appeal to romantic comedy audiences.
Casting Call
- Ben Stiller as Rabbi Jake Schram
- Edward Norton as Father Brian Finn
- Jenna Elfman as Anna Riley
- Anne Bancroft as Ruth Schram
- Eli Wallach as Rabbi Ben Lewis
- Hollan Taylor as Bonnie Rose
Production Team:
Directed by Edward Norton
Produced by Touchstone Pictures / Spyglass Entertainment / Triple Threat Talent
Written by Stuart Blumberg
My Critical Response:
{Snub-Skip this Film, Lifeboat Award-Desperate for Something to Watch, Commuter Comforter-A Perfect Film for Any Device, Jaw Dropper- You Must Watch This Film on a Big Screen, Rosebud Award- This Film is Cinema.}
Keeping the Faith is an enjoyable romantic comedy with a modern twist, but the story does fall apart midway through the second act. Stiller and Norton capture the audience’s attention and make their religious leading men compelling, but Keeping the Faith is just two steps short of being a great film.
If you are looking for a good film to watch while travelling on your morning commute, then Keeping the Faith is the perfect Commuter Comforter film.
Coming Soon
Next week, a look back at the Don Johnson / Melanie Griffith film Paradise.