Keeping the Faith is a nice little romantic comedy that stars the iconic Ben Stiller and Edward Norton with the lesser-known Jenna Elfman. This had the potential to be as iconic as the stars, but it tries to take the safe way out by not putting enough emphasis on the love triangle bit and putting to much on the normal love situation. But for what it is, it is worth the watch.Ben Stiller and Edward Norton are awesome as always as lifelong best friends who know that their calling is to preach in their religions: Judaism and Christianity. Both use their own hip methods and soon fill up their parishes and become a rock star-like rabbi and priest. It is really cool to see them hone their crafts in their respective places. I myself go to church and I really wish I had a priest like Norton. If I were Jewish, I'd wish for a rabbi like Stiller. Although I am not Jewish, Stiller's bits in the temple are just as cool as Norton's bits in the church. When they were kids for a few years, their best friend was Anna and they were inseparable. When Anna moves back both Norton and Stiller vie for her, which puts their friendship and faiths on the line. Stiller needs to marry a Jewish woman in order to be the next head of the synagogue, but is not ready to risk it by being with Anna who is not Jewish. Norton can't marry, but is ready to quit the priesthood and be with Anna. That sounds like a good plot line for the movie. She loves them both, but is in love with Stiller. That is where the movie is weak. What would make for a better plot line is would be if she fell in love with both of them. Maybe in unison, but still. They way that it works out is that a love triangle is just a tiny bit of a backdrop and most of the story is Stiller contemplating risking his status as a rabbi. Nothing wrong with that, but the love triangle had so much potential that just resulted in a big cop-out. That is what makes the ending so predictable. With Anna having the same amount of love for both guys the stakes would be higher, tension would grow, excitement would elevate, there'd be more originality and would probably be more funny. But what it does have is good. It is romantic, funny, and delivers good messages in faith and religions. I would recommend buying this movie, but it is worth seeing if it happens to be shown on TV.

Keeping the Faith is unforgettable and unusual twist on the love triangle story. You know that joke about the priest and the rabbi? Well, that's not it, this is something else, something new.This movie is a sensible blend of comedy and romance. There's no exaggerations (well, maybe excepting that one weird date) and everything has a sense or realism, including the dialogs.There's a nice soundtrack attached to this interesting script with a number of cute twists. You will not be bored, you will definitively be charmed, and have a number of chuckles.See it, for some simply enjoyable entertainment.

I'd been skipping it for years. I was not sure I wanted to see Edward Norton in a romcom next to Ben Stiller. The tacky premise on the lines of "a rabbi and a priest running after the same skirt" also raised suspicion. Now that I saw it my doubts are justified.I am being austere. It is not that bad. Rather well done considering it's Norton's debut as a director. A little more editing could make it less dragging but still it is OK for a relaxed viewer. I loved the air and the street scenes. I'd never been in NY prior to 9/11 and they gave me that bitter-sweet feeling of second-hand nostalgie. The main problems were the plot and - surprisingly - acting. Norton is one of my favorite actors, a sort of rely-on, and I was shocked to see him definitely overacting in more than one scene, f.e. waking up from his erotic nightmare (sorry, I'm Vai's die-hard fan) or during the conversation with the girl before she tells him she's in love with the other guy. Given the fact that he directed the thing himself it seems very strange. But still for the most part he was very good, subtle and rather funny. Stiller is good at comedy but incredibly annoying as the love interest. I just can not see the appeal. The whole romantic story between him and that masculine fake blond seemed so shallow and unconvincing that it was hard to sympathize. And here we come to the plot. I am sure the story could be 10 times more touching, natural and convincing had it been just a story of love triangle - two bosom friends of different heritage and their old crush. That's enough, really. The whole "faith" line is so badly handled that it ruins the film and makes comedy tasteless and romance implausible. Not that I am violently indignant at seeing a Catholic priest yielding to temptation or a rabbi indulging in racy pre-marital affair. Could be. You could do a harsh satire or insightful soul study out of it, anything. The problem is it is represented but doesn't relate to the main plot. We can not see their faith affect their relationships or their decisions rather than make them abide some general rules of behaviour. In fact they don't seem to have faith, they have jobs in faith industry and they like their jobs. One just thinks a priest would be more than troubled having found himself lusting after a female friend (or anyone). But he's so OK with it. He's in good mood, and all he's worried about is if she's gonna get him. Et cetera. You don't need soul searching in a light comedy, sure, but why touch such things then?So my word is it could be very nice and entertaining if it left the "faith" part out. Well, and the last 1/3 of the film more dynamic.

Norton and Stiller are clergy (a priest and a rabbi, sounds like the start of a joke), Elfman is their friend who is secretly dating Stiller and who is secretly loved by Norton. What I think is most exceptional about this movie is the way it portrays these clergy as cool guys - I mean, there's really cool clergy just like there's really cool fireman and loggers and truck drivers. And it does so in a way that doesn't entirely compromise their faith, although some of the stuff Norton says or does is not quite right (and for the moment I'm not talking about his attraction to Elfman). I am also a huge Elfman fan, I think she's beautiful as well as extremely effective in her roles. Seeing this film made me wonder if Ben would be better served by serious roles more often, he's very effective and avoids the silliness and gross humor that can sometimes sabotage his comic performances. Nice supporting work by Bancroft and the always appreciated Wallach. Recommended for light entertainment.