Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

filippaberry84 I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

alexdeleonfilm REVIEW of "KEEPING THE FAITH " at KARLOVY VARY, 2000. Directed by and starring Ed Norton, his behind the camera debut at age 29. With Ben Stiller, Jenna Elfman, Eli Wallach, and Ann Bancroft. Ann odd triangle between and among a young Catholic priest (Norton) a young rabbi (Stiller), and a drop-dead beautiful trim blonde Shicksa. This is a mildly amusing romantic comedy set in New York with lots of Jewish shtik and shtiklach. Stiller plays the mod rabbi with the tenacity of a Kosher Apeman, Italian-American Ann Bancroft as the mother is Jewish-motherly convincing, and Jewish Czech director, Milos Forman, does a cameo as an elder of Catholic church, while Eli Wallach, in a radical departure from the villain roles which made him famous in Spaghetti westerns, is an elder of the synagogue. Ed, the priest, should have won the girl but his vows of chastity rule that out. In the end, after many misunderstandings, she's all set to convert to Judaism and live happily ever after as the rabbi's future wife. Elfman is a real discovery and should soon become a leading presence in American mainstream flicks. she has the pristine purity of a Doris Day with a nineties awareness and style, all hung on a perfectly fitnessed framework: After all, she's a classically trained ballerina. Altogether this is an appealing if cliché-ridden feel-good flick with a strong theme-message of unself-conscious interfaith interaction, although some strictly Orthodox "frimme leute" may not care too much for the idea of a rabbi about to marry a Shicksa no matter how "shein" and lovable she might be. Ed Norton, who played in Forman's "The People versus Larry Flynt" is a special guest of the fest as is Eli Wallach. Mr. Wallach, a veteran of over 100 movies in a long and brilliant career and still active at 85, added a bit of living film history to the current festival and was roundly applauded by a spellbound collection of local media, newsmen, and film critics. Alex, Karlovy Vary, Thursday, July 6. 2000

Irishchatter When I looked at this film, I thought it was really gonna be a very funny movie with well known actors Ben stiller and Jenna Elfman. I don't know Edward Norton well but I heard of him.Anyways this story involves these two guys who are priests falls in love with their childhood friend Anna Riley. I swear to god, I found her voice very annoying and too saucy, Jenna Elfman didn't disappoint me with the Looney Tunes Back in action movie in my childhood but she did with this film. I mean shes a great actress but what is the point in putting on a fake manly voice throughout the film. It really made the film pretty dull and boring for me to even look through the film.The whole movie is just awful!

gimlet_eye For once I have nothing to add, or take issue with - either with the best reviews here, or with the movie itself. This film is a gem, and Edward Norton, perhaps the most talented actor of our generation, turns out to be a genius of a filmmaker as well. But everyone involved with this film deserves praise, starting with the other leads, Stiller and Elfman, backed up as they are by solid performances by the other actors.I rarely rate any movie as high as 8, but the only reason I don't give this one a 10 is that it makes no pretense of being anything more than it is: a true romantic comedy, with neither aspect slighted, and with a satisfying feel good resolution that manages to dodge most of the trite clichés of the genre.The only thing I take issue with is the gross under-rating of this movie by those who can't see beneath the surface humor to the love, the artistry, and the good feeling with which it was put together.

CountZero313 Jake and Brian are childhood friends who both become clergymen in their respective faiths. Their friendship and faith are tested when childhood buddy Anna returns and both men fall for her.There is one great line in this film, when Jake (Ben Stiller) says to Anna, "God was showing off when he met you." Unfortunately, that is one line in an interminable procession of lines in a film that sags under the weight of a 2-hour-plus running time and Too. Much. Talking.Jenna Elfman as Anna is a joy; vivacious, engaging and free of pretension. Ben Stiller puts in a shift as Rabbi Jake, but Edward Norton is ill-fitted as Father Brian. There is the occasional smile, such as Jake being surrounded by his congregation at the cinema and declaring "That's what I love about New York." There are no belly laughs. There is, however, lots of deadtime as Norton at first chastises and then encourages Stiller in his pursuit of the Goddess-like Anna. Jake has a heart-to-heart with Mum, Brian has a heart-to-heart with Anna, Brian has a heart-to-heart with his senior priest, Jake has a heart-to-heart with his congregation, on and on and on... Nora Ephron is thanked in the credits, which may account for this tedious join-the-dots plotting of the romcom arc. David Fincher is also thanked, though his influence on Norton's directing is, unfortunately, harder to discern.In the last quarter Jenna Elfman is off screen for about 20 minutes, and I felt every one of them. By that point we know where the Jake-Anna relationship will go, we know he'll leave it to the last minute, and we know he'll sprint across town in an attempt to capture her before she leaves forever. Why do three talented actors with their pick of projects sign on for such clichéd, well-worn fare? The bottom line is, this is the kind of twee, mind-numbing twaddle you get when talented filmmakers stop taking risks.