Two friends, a priest and a rabbi, fall in love with the same woman they knew in their youth, but the religious position of both men denies them romance.
Set in the present-day San Fernando Valley, the project revolves around a delusional man who believes he's a cowboy and the relationship that he starts with a rebellious young woman.
Director:
David Jacobson
Stars:
Edward Norton,
Evan Rachel Wood,
David Morse
Cornered by the DEA, convicted New York drug dealer Montgomery Brogan reevaluates his life in the 24 remaining hours before facing a seven-year jail term.
Director:
Spike Lee
Stars:
Edward Norton,
Barry Pepper,
Philip Seymour Hoffman
A family's moral codes are tested when Ray Tierney investigates a case that reveals an incendiary police corruption scandal involving his own brother-in-law. For Ray, the truth is revelatory, a Pandora's Box that threatens to upend not only the Tierney legacy but the entire NYPD.
Director:
Gavin O'Connor
Stars:
Edward Norton,
Colin Farrell,
Noah Emmerich
A British medical doctor fights a cholera epidemic in a small Chinese village, while being trapped at home in a loveless marriage to an unfaithful wife.
An Ivy League professor is lured back to his Oklahoma hometown, where his twin brother, a small-time pot grower, has concocted a scheme to take down a local drug lord.
Director:
Tim Blake Nelson
Stars:
Edward Norton,
Keri Russell,
Henry Max Nelson
A young, reformed gambler must return to playing big stakes poker to help a friend pay off loan sharks, while balancing his relationship with his girlfriend and his commitments to law school.
A kids show host, Rainbow Randolph, is fired in disgrace while his replacement, Sheldon Mopes, aka Smoochy the Rhino, finds himself a rising star. Unfortunately for Sheldon, the business of kids television isn't all child's play.
Director:
Danny DeVito
Stars:
Robin Williams,
Edward Norton,
Catherine Keener
Jake and Brian are friends. They are Jewish and Catholic respectively. They would grow up and become a rabbi and priest. Anna, whom they knew when they were younger, comes back to town a stunning woman. Jake is up to be the head of his synagogue but he is not married which doesn't make his appointment any easier. Jake finds himself attracted to Anna but because she's not Jewish, he can't marry her as it would make his appointment less likely. Brian also finds himself attracted to Anna, but the priesthood doesn't allow that. Their friendship is strained when each learns of the other's feelings for her.Written by
rcs0411@yahoo.com
In the airport scene, where limo drivers hold up signs with the names of people they're waiting for, one sign reads "S Blumberg." This is the name of the writer of the film, Stuart Blumberg. See more »
Goofs
When Brian grabs the first bottle of liquor he takes one swig before continuing the conversation with Anna. When the next shot of him is shown less than 5 seconds later the bottle is less than half full. See more »
Thank-yous include one to "Salmita Bonita", a reference to actor-director 'Edward Norton''s girlfriend, actress Salma Hayek. See more »
Alternate Versions
The DVD release features quite a few edited scenes, including:
Brian takes Anna to the club while it's still under construction
Brian tries to come into the bar with a bottle of liquor in his hand. The bartender tells him 'No Bottles', so he promptly drinks the remainder
Brian and Jakob walk through an art museum with Anna (featuring the scene from the Gag Reel where Anna can't say the name of the picture she's standing in front of); eventually, her cel phone rings, she has a yelling match with a co-worker, and falls in the fountain (also seen in the Gag Reel)
A bit with young Jakob and Brian making a kung-fu movie with a home video camera
Anna talking to Ruth about Jakob and Jake's brother (establishing exactly why Ruth never forgave him)
A piece from Jakob's date, where the woman talks about running and breast implants before having a sneezing fit and smashing her face on the table
Jakob tells Anna to put her pager under her skirt while she's at work, and he'll call her; two co-workers come in just as Jake starts calling, trying to get her to help them work out the numbers as she 'gets buzzed'
KEEPING THE FAITH (2000) *** Ben Stiller, Edward Norton, Jenna Elfman, Eli Wallach, Anne Bancroft, Ron Rifkin, Rena Sofer, Lisa Edelstein, Milos Forman. (Dir: Edward Norton)
So did you hear the one about the priest and the rabbi and the `business woman'? Well if that sounds familiar don't let that dissuade you from this frequently hilarious romantic comedy of the unlikeliest of menage a trois in cinema history.
Childhood chums, Jake Schram, Brian Finn and Anna Reilly - The Three Muskateers of the 8th Grade of Manhattan - are reunited nearly 2 decades later with a lot of catching up to do when Anna comes back east for a short stint as a high powered brokerage businesswoman (portrayed in full giddy sexy appeal by Elfman of tv's kooky couple `Dharma & Greg') who has her hands full when she finds her best buddies, Jake (Stiller in fine leading man/comedy mode) and Brian (Norton, equally riotous in his directorial debut) are, respectively, a rabbi and priest.
Seems the best friends only bonded stronger when their female compatriot moved out of the neighborhood pre-adolescently and shared more than their uncommon friendship: their devotion to their separate faiths. To make matters more difficult in Anna's sudden return into their lives is the fact that both buddies are in love with her but it is Jake who winds up making the first move as the frustrated young rabbi who is constantly being set up on disastrous blind dates by his meddlesome congregation (`the kosher-nostra'). After the initial awkwardness is overcome the two friends become a casual sex relationship that only gets further complicated when Jake cannot handle the fact Anna's non-Judea background must be taken into effect if he is to become a full-fledged rabbi at his synagogue. Brian, meanwhile, has found his libido at its leash when Anna begins to subsist in his dreams leading to a comical revelation by the film's conclusion.
The threesome have chemistry to spare and banter so witty and blunt by Stuart Blumberg's script that the pedestrian storyline (will Jake realize just what a good thing Anna really is and will Anna realize Brian really wants the best for her) is a no-brainer (and I have to admit the climax of Stiller addressing his followers with a mea culpea seemed to miss its mark since there was no real sense of him `betraying' his people), the film chugs along merrily and makes light of the religious overtones (one truly funny moment is the depiction of the young Jake sorting through his Jewish rabbi hero trading cards the way one would relish finding a Mickey Mantle rookie card) with a contemporary spin. Edelstein is memorable as well as the sinfully sensual Sofer as, respectively, date from hell and date from heaven for Jake. Bancroft and Wallach also lend veteran character actor shtick with all the nourishment of a nosh at the Carnegie Deli.
Elfman has proven to be a lovely comedienne and has always reminded me of Jamie Lee Curtis with her buoyant performances and adds just the right bounce as the tomboy all grown up. Stiller continues his stance as the hardest working man in comedy with another deft, dry turn as the befuddled rabbi and Norton display the tricky balance of skilled actor of his generation (his choirboy persona is perfectly advanced for his good-hearted priest and his knack for perfect imitations - i.e. Dustin Hoffman's `Rain Man' )- is only matched by his straight ahead approach to filmmaking; trimming the fat but keeping the high calorie comedy quota intact.
He even gets his former director Milos Forman (who put Norton through the paces on `The People vs. Larry Flynt') for a small cameo as an elder clergyman to get one of the film's biggest laughs (interrupted by a middle-of-the-night phone call for Norton he says he was `dreaming of his mother's sausages').
Believe in love and laughter is to appreciate a wonderful romantic comedy that has both in spades.
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KEEPING THE FAITH (2000) *** Ben Stiller, Edward Norton, Jenna Elfman, Eli Wallach, Anne Bancroft, Ron Rifkin, Rena Sofer, Lisa Edelstein, Milos Forman. (Dir: Edward Norton)
So did you hear the one about the priest and the rabbi and the `business woman'? Well if that sounds familiar don't let that dissuade you from this frequently hilarious romantic comedy of the unlikeliest of menage a trois in cinema history.
Childhood chums, Jake Schram, Brian Finn and Anna Reilly - The Three Muskateers of the 8th Grade of Manhattan - are reunited nearly 2 decades later with a lot of catching up to do when Anna comes back east for a short stint as a high powered brokerage businesswoman (portrayed in full giddy sexy appeal by Elfman of tv's kooky couple `Dharma & Greg') who has her hands full when she finds her best buddies, Jake (Stiller in fine leading man/comedy mode) and Brian (Norton, equally riotous in his directorial debut) are, respectively, a rabbi and priest.
Seems the best friends only bonded stronger when their female compatriot moved out of the neighborhood pre-adolescently and shared more than their uncommon friendship: their devotion to their separate faiths. To make matters more difficult in Anna's sudden return into their lives is the fact that both buddies are in love with her but it is Jake who winds up making the first move as the frustrated young rabbi who is constantly being set up on disastrous blind dates by his meddlesome congregation (`the kosher-nostra'). After the initial awkwardness is overcome the two friends become a casual sex relationship that only gets further complicated when Jake cannot handle the fact Anna's non-Judea background must be taken into effect if he is to become a full-fledged rabbi at his synagogue. Brian, meanwhile, has found his libido at its leash when Anna begins to subsist in his dreams leading to a comical revelation by the film's conclusion.
The threesome have chemistry to spare and banter so witty and blunt by Stuart Blumberg's script that the pedestrian storyline (will Jake realize just what a good thing Anna really is and will Anna realize Brian really wants the best for her) is a no-brainer (and I have to admit the climax of Stiller addressing his followers with a mea culpea seemed to miss its mark since there was no real sense of him `betraying' his people), the film chugs along merrily and makes light of the religious overtones (one truly funny moment is the depiction of the young Jake sorting through his Jewish rabbi hero trading cards the way one would relish finding a Mickey Mantle rookie card) with a contemporary spin. Edelstein is memorable as well as the sinfully sensual Sofer as, respectively, date from hell and date from heaven for Jake. Bancroft and Wallach also lend veteran character actor shtick with all the nourishment of a nosh at the Carnegie Deli.
Elfman has proven to be a lovely comedienne and has always reminded me of Jamie Lee Curtis with her buoyant performances and adds just the right bounce as the tomboy all grown up. Stiller continues his stance as the hardest working man in comedy with another deft, dry turn as the befuddled rabbi and Norton display the tricky balance of skilled actor of his generation (his choirboy persona is perfectly advanced for his good-hearted priest and his knack for perfect imitations - i.e. Dustin Hoffman's `Rain Man' )- is only matched by his straight ahead approach to filmmaking; trimming the fat but keeping the high calorie comedy quota intact.
He even gets his former director Milos Forman (who put Norton through the paces on `The People vs. Larry Flynt') for a small cameo as an elder clergyman to get one of the film's biggest laughs (interrupted by a middle-of-the-night phone call for Norton he says he was `dreaming of his mother's sausages').
Believe in love and laughter is to appreciate a wonderful romantic comedy that has both in spades.