Review of Keeping the Faith (2000) by Kcunning — 31 Mar 2011

This is an underrated romantic comedy with a warm and complex theme of friendship, love, betrayal & redemption. What a great debut as director by Edward Norton. I'd love to see him direct more films as charming & warm-hearted, & funny as this one. This was such a delightful film. Stiller is at his most charming & sexy as a rabbi who falls in love a non-Jew yet doesn't want to hurt his mother(a poignant & funny turn by Anne Bancroft) nor endanger his job as a young rabbi. Stiller & Norton as his lifelong friend, a priest, both fall for their childhood friend, played by a charming, & complex Jenna Elfman. This was her role of a lifetime & it deserved much more positive recognition.

Norton gave Stiller a great role. His rabbi has many social & family obligations, but he & Norton's priest have a lifetime of friendship, & competition, & their relationship is completely believable. Elfman's blond, high-powered businesswomen returns to their life from their long-ago childhood friendship & turns both of their worlds upside-down. Anne Bancroft's Jewish mother, who has damaged her relationship with her eldest son because of her refusal to accept his Christian wife, now realizes her mistake. Bancroft gives her last, great performance which is funny & nuanced. When she & Elfman weep about the love & pain that Elfman & Stiller's relationship has caused & the difficulties they may encounter, you believe these strong women love & respect each other & will help themselves & the man they both love to move through their problems toward a new family. I must also point out the great soundtrack, with Tom Waits, & other wonderful singers, and note that Elmer Bernstein composed the lyrical & haunting movie's theme.