Keeping the Faith (2000)

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.

Director:

Edward Norton

Writer:

Stuart Blumberg

Stars:

Ben Stiller, Edward Norton, Jenna Elfman

2 wins & 6 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ben Stiller	...	Rabbi Jake Schram
Edward Norton	...	Father Brian Finn
Jenna Elfman	...	Anna Riley
Anne Bancroft	...	Ruth Schram
Eli Wallach	...	Rabbi Ben Lewis
Ron Rifkin	...	Larry Friedman
Milos Forman	...	Father Havel
Holland Taylor	...	Bonnie Rose
Lisa Edelstein	...	Ali Decker
Rena Sofer	...	Rachel Rose
Ken Leung	...	Don
Brian George	...	Paulie Chopra
Catherine Lloyd Burns	...	Debbie
Susie Essman	...	Ellen Friedman
Stuart Blumberg	...	Len

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

love triangle | bad date | priest | rabbi | jewish | 

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Taglines:

If you have to believe in something, you might as well believe in love.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for some sexuality and language

Did You Know?

Trivia

Edward Norton's directorial debut.

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Goofs

In the cafe scene when they are discussing the upcoming "double-date," Anna's hairstyle changes from a ponytail to braids in one shot, then goes back to a ponytail for the rest of the scene.

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Quotes

[showing teenage Jake how to do the sign of the cross]
Teenage Brian: Spectacles, testicles, wallet, watch.

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Crazy Credits

Thank-yous include one to "Salmita Bonita", a reference to actor-director Edward Norton's girlfriend, actress Salma Hayek.

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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'

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Connections

Spoofs Melrose Place (1992)

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Soundtracks

Please Call Me Baby
Written and Performed by Tom Waits
Courtesy of Elektra Entertainment Group
By arrangement with Warner Special Products

User Reviews

Unlikely yet entertaining 'menage-a-tois'screwball comedy

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.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Hebrew Spanish

Release Date:

14 April 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Keeping the Faith

Filming Locations:

Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$29,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$8,078,671, 16 April 2000

Gross USA:

$37,047,880

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$59,945,183

Company Credits

Production Co:

Spyglass Entertainment, Touchstone Pictures, Triple Threat Talent

Technical Specs

Runtime:

128 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1