Do you have movies (or books or songs or whatnot) which, for whatever weird reason, you’ve seen a numerous times? Not out of a belief that they are superlative, though they might be, not because you’ve sought them out for repeated viewings, but through happenstance?
During my first year of college, I watched the 2000 romantic comedy Keeping the Faith — directed by and starring Edward Norton and featuring Ben Stiller and Jenna Elfman — about twenty-five times. It’s one of those cultural artifacts that immediately evokes a time and place for me. It ceased to be a film; it was instead a wormhole.
Recently, I caught a few minutes of it on television and in a new context, it was defamiliarized. I realized that Keeping the Faith was actually a very charming and successful rom-com, and thus it’s this week’s selection.
Norton and Stiller are childhood best friends who, stop me if you’ve heard this one, grow up to become a priest and a rabbi. They’re leading their congregations and dealing with structural conservatism against the changes they want to implement. In Stiller’s case, he’s also weathering pressure to get married. Enter Elfman — the third member of their trio — who’s grown up, become a high-powered business woman, and turned beautiful. A love triangle ensues.
What makes the film better than the average rom-com of the period is, first, it’s warmth and gentleness and, second, the extent to which it represents its characters inner lives. Elfman’s non-Jewishness is a big deal for Stiller; Norton undergoes a crisis of faith based on his attraction: this is not the stuff of the average Hollywood movie. While I wouldn’t say it’s serious by any stretch of the imagination, the characters are far more three-dimensional than is generally the case.
Now some of the humor comes from cultural and religious stereotypes, which occasionally grate, but any time the film is dealing with the genuine friendship and affection between the trio, it’s on solid ground. While I knew that Norton could be a great actor, the film also proved to me that Stiller and Elfman can give good performances with the right material. I am particularly annoyed on Elfman’s behalf that she never managed much of anything post-Dharma & Greg. (Oh, 90s pop culture.)
For me, it’s New York-style pizza and Keeping the Faith tonight.
Emma Barry 
I’ve never heard of this film, but am always always fascinating by the depiction of faith in film or literature! Thanks for the recommendation!
I’ve just bought, from the bargain pile at the local drugmart … a DVD of THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY by Ken Loach, about the sadness that was 1920s Ireland. This is no rom-com, but it’s devastatingly brilliant and hits the spot on a blue Monday, not for downtime Friday. It’s historical film at its finest, matched only by Loach’s LAND AND FREEDOM (Spanish Civil War) and Sayles MATEWAN. Sorry, I went on and on!
The Wind that Shakes the Barley is one of my favorite Irish films (and a much better and more accurate take on the period that the more mainstream Michael Collins (1996)). I feel like I end up watching it every year in observance of St. Patrick’s Day. Good find!
Yes, I saw it when it came out … definitely better than Michael Collins!