The Movie Guys: ‘Keeping the Faith’ strains to mix romance, comedy

Friday, April 14, 2000 | 9:48 a.m.

The Movie Guys, starring Jeff Howard and Dave Neil, appears Fridays in the Sun. They can also be seen on the 11 a.m. Friday newscast on KVVU Channel 5. Plus, check them out online at lasvegassun.com/sun/sunlife/movies and the movieguys.com.

Grade: Jeff B, Dave C+.

Starring: Ben Stiller, Edward Norton, Jenna Elfman, Anne Bancroft, Eli Wallach, Ron Rifkin, Milos Forman.

Screenplay: Stuard Blumberg.

Director: Edward Norton.

Rated: PG-13 for adult situations, sexual situations and humor.

Running time: 129 minutes.

Playing at: Rancho Santa Fe, Century Orleans, Century Cinedome 12 Henderson, Las Vegas Drive-in, UA Rainbow Promenade 10, UA Showcase 8, Regal Cinemas Boulder Station, Regal Cinemas Sunset Station, Regal Cinemas Colonnade 14, Regal Cinemas Texas Station 18, Regal Cinemas Village Square 18.

Synopsis: Best friends since they were kids, Rabbi Jacob Schram (Ben Stiller) and the Rev. Brian Finn (Edward Norton) are dynamic and popular young men living and working on New York's upper west side. When Anna Reilly (Jenna Elfman), once their childhood friend and now grown into a beautiful corporate executive, suddenly returns to the city, she re-enters Jake and Brian's lives and hearts with a vengeance. Sparks fly and an unusual and complicated love triangle ensues.

Jeff: A priest, a rabbi and a beautiful woman get caught in a torrid love triangle ... sounds like the beginning of almost every joke you've ever heard during happy hour at your favorite watering hole. "Keeping the Faith," the directional debut of Academy Award nominee Norton, is an appealing and charming comedy addressing the eternal question that other films before it (films such as "When Harry Met Sally") have asked: Should lifelong friends become romantically involved?

Brian is a Roman Catholic priest (Norton) and Jake is a Rabbi (Stiller), both of whom have their hearts set on their childhood friend Anna (Jenna Elfman), but things become complicated when Anna falls for one of the boys herself, leaving the other to question life and its meaning.

Dave: Not only life, but their religious faiths. The film even begins as a joke as a priest walks into a bar, making light of the actual story that Brian is about to tell the bartender, who claims he has heard every story there is. "You haven't heard this one!" a drunken Brian exclaims and begins to tell us in the old reliable flashback style his sad story about he and his best friend, Jake, who are torn because of a girl from their childhood.

The irony, of course, is that a priest is sworn to celibacy while a rabbi is forbidden to marry outside his faith. So when Anna returns to the Manhattan area as a charismatic and successful businesswoman, she finds herself curiously attracted to the heavily sought-after bachelor rabbi, Jake. However, once the two begin to consummate their relationship, they decide to keep it a secret from everyone -- including Brian, who is questioning his faith over his feelings for Anna.

But hey, this is supposed to be a romantic comedy, right? Well, you'd think so, which seems to be the film's defining fault as "Keeping the Faith" grinds its gears from comic relief to dramatic tension.

Jeff: The laughs tend to vanish toward the end and the film does become a bit heavy, but this is heavy subject matter. Choosing which best friend to spend eternity with isn't an easy choice. Stiller is clearly the star of the film and handles himself with great ease and poise. He can get you to laugh with a quick and quirky expression, but then turn around and deliver a heartfelt monologue. Stiller is very versatile and seems comfortable and at home playing an over-stimulated rabbi. As for Norton, his character clearly takes a back seat to the story, only to come in later to provide a convenient dilemma for the two friends/lovers Elfman and Stiller.

Both his character and performance are routine and don't provide him with nearly enough material to help him become someone else as he did in "American History X" and "Primal Fear." It's clear that Norton is a character actor and playing himself isn't too interesting or appealing. Still, the film provides sufficient laughs, tears and appeal for a sensitive romantic comedy.

Dave: I think you're giving the film more credit than it deserves, Jeff. The script is well-written by first-time movie scribe Stuart Blumberg (a writer for "Mad TV"), but the physical comedy that both Stiller and Norton provide seem literally out of place for this drama. When Jake hits his date in the stomach at her daring request, or Brian jumps into a bowl of holy water in order to put out his flaming robe, all appear to be forced, cheap laughs.

As for our female lead, all I can say is that I want to like Jenna Elfman, who has made a name for herself on ABC's hit series "Dharma and Greg." Unfortunately she continues to gravitate toward feature roles that possess little or no depth ("Krippendorf's Tribe" and "EdTV"), unable to tap into her proven talents. I'd bet that "Keeping the Faith" will not be the unforgettable romantic comedy for the dawning decade, as the aforementioned "When Harry Met Sally" was for the '90s. But it is a simple enough film for Norton to get his directorial feet wet and certainly shows his potential outside his acting ability.