Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Roxie The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Angelika_New_York I remember seeing this in the theater. It wasn't anything to get excited about. It was a way to escape for part of an evening. Anyhow, I was somewhat curious to see Edward Norton's directorial debut. It isn't much anything different from most romantic movies. It's quite forgettable really. The plot is pretty paper thin that does not sustain its running time. I never felt it needed to be 2 hours and 9 minutes. It could have easily had a good twenty minutes shaved off. It's about Father Brian Finn (Edward Norton) and Rabbi Jacob Schram (Ben Stiller) whom have been friends since childhood, however there is a girl whom they've been friends with since also. The priest and the rabbi have been living their lives in New York and their childhood friend Anna Reilly (Jenna Elfman) contacts them out of the blue and plans on doing a lot of catching up with them after all the years. She has become a successful career woman who basically works in advertising and has come all the way from somewhere in California. Most of the movie pretty much centers on the blooming relationship she has with Jacob, while at the same time Brian develops feelings for her as well...It is a long movie that becomes tiresome, especially within the final twenty, twenty-five minutes or so. I'm not sure what compelled them to make such a drawn out romantic comedy. There's nothing extraordinary here. The actors are passable. They pretty much play themselves. Ben Stiller is basically the same character from There's Something About Mary, whom after this, played again the same character in Meet the Parents. The most intriguing aspect of this film is wondering why Edward Norton took on such a project. It's rather lightweight in comparison to some of his other starring roles. Maybe it was a way to perhaps establish himself in a charming lead role, if that's what he wanted to do. That and to have the opportunity to get behind the camera. I always liked Edward Norton. I think he is a good actor, although he doesn't show up much in movies anymore. I like the way he really gets into playing these quirky, intense characters. Too bad there isn't really anything special about what goes on in this movie. I happen to like a lot of talky films, however this one just failed to gauge much interest. The only scene that I can think of that makes it worthwhile is a dream sequence (yes, a dream sequence) of Edward Norton and Jenna Elfman both jogging and after they take a tumble on the grass, he holds her down and gazes intensely into her eyes. I think he looked so sexy in that scene... But if I were in her place, I'd definitely choose Edward Norton over Ben Stiller. That's just my preference. Anyway, my overall grade is a C.

Avid Climber Keeping the Faith is unforgettable and unusual twist on the love triangle story. You know that joke about the priest and the rabbi? Well, that's not it, this is something else, something new.This movie is a sensible blend of comedy and romance. There's no exaggerations (well, maybe excepting that one weird date) and everything has a sense or realism, including the dialogs.There's a nice soundtrack attached to this interesting script with a number of cute twists. You will not be bored, you will definitively be charmed, and have a number of chuckles.See it, for some simply enjoyable entertainment.

tieman64 Though formulaic, "Keeping The Faith" nevertheless does one thing which these "love triangle" or "romantic comedies" usually don't do: it takes itself seriously.And so while the film's framework – in which a priest (Edward Norton) and a rabbi (Ben Stiller) both lust over a mutual friend (actress Jenna Elfman) – is pure formula and the film's resolution entirely generic, "Keeping The Faith" nevertheless contains a number of interesting scenes. These scenes, which take issues of religion, love, friendship and faith seriously and which allow the film's characters to chew on some dramatic moments and dig deeper into what would ordinary be pretty cardboard characters, are the result of Edward Norton, who made his directorial debut with this film.Understandably an actor-centric film-maker, Norton does his best to wrestle some substance out of his cast, and at times finds some good stuff, like a scene in which a priest talks frankly about his celibacy, and another in which best friends share emotional, teary eyed confessions.The film's love triangle plot is also somewhat interesting. Each character embodies a different type of spiritual uncertainty, one seeking sexual intimacy, one God and celibacy, the other career and money, but each with their own anxieties about the ability of these quests to actually fill their respective existential holes. The resolutions these three characters ultimately settle upon are trite, but the way they expose their uncertainties are interesting, our trio possessing a kind of raw, emotional honesty that these cookie cutter films usually lack. Throw in a sexy and at times emotionally naked performance by Jenna Elfman, a couple very well written dialogue scenes and you have a pretty good debut.7.9/10 – Overlong and with an identity crisis, "Keeping The Faith" nevertheless contains three or four very good scenes.

blosnich752-1 I just finished watching it. I am nursing a broken collar bone and trying to stay off of this drug named "the computer"! I was so pleasantly surprised, the acting was great and I really cared about these characters...by the way, I consider myself agnostic, so I thought I was scraping the bottom of the barrel for something to watch. That could not be further from the truth. I have been a fan of Ben Stiller and have been a big fan of his parents comedy act for years. I had heard of Edward Norton before but don't recall seeing him in anything else before. I will definitely check out more of his work now. Jenna Elfman is awesome, as usual. I highly recommend this movie. It was time well spent.