''Keeping the Faith'' is a 2000 American

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typic ...

film written by

Stuart Blumberg Stuart Blumberg (born July 19, 1969) is an American screenwriter, actor, producer and director. Early life Blumberg grew up in Shaker Heights, Ohio and graduated from University School. He is of Jewish descent. He graduated from Yale University ...

, and starring Ben Stiller,

Edward Norton Edward Harrison Norton (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has received numerous awards and nominations, including a Golden Globe Award and three Academy Award nominations. Born in Boston, Massachusetts and raised ...

(in his

directorial debut This is a list of film directorial debuts in chronological order. The films and dates referred to are a director's first commercial cinematic release. Many film makers have directed works which were not commercially released, for example early work ...

Jenna Elfman Jennifer Mary Elfman (née Butala, born 1971) is an American actress. She is best known for her leading role as Dharma on the ABC sitcom ''Dharma & Greg'' (1997–2002), for which she received the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Televi ...

Eli Wallach Eli Herschel Wallach (; December 7, 1915 – June 24, 2014) was an American film, television, and stage actor from New York City. From his 1945 Broadway debut to his last film appearance, Wallach's entertainment career spanned 65 years. Origina ...

, and Anne Bancroft. This film was released by

Touchstone Pictures Touchstone Pictures, Inc. was an American film production label of Walt Disney Studios, founded and owned by The Walt Disney Company. Feature films released under the Touchstone label were produced and financed by Walt Disney Studios, and featu ...

and Spyglass Entertainment, in association with Triple Threat Talent, on April 14, 2000. The film is dedicated to Norton's late mother, Robin. It had a budget of $29 million.

Plot

Father Brian Finn, dedicated to his calling as Catholic priest since childhood, shares the duties of his New York parish with the older Fr. Havel. Rabbi Jacob "Jake" Schram, best friends with Brian since they were children and the youngest rabbi at his synagogue, focuses on his work to the detriment of his private life, much to the chagrin of his mother, Ruth. The two men show a close bond even in their professions, planning to open a jointly-sponsored community center. The pair reminisce about their childhood friend Anna Reilly, meeting them in middle school after beating up a bully. The three were close friends until Anna's family moved to California and they ultimately lost touch. Sixteen years later, Anna moves to New York for work and calls Jake and Brian out of the blue, rekindling their friendship. Anna and Jake begin sleeping together, but he is reluctant to become seriously involved as she is not Jewish, which could compromise his relationship with his congregation and his mother Ruth, who disowned her eldest son for marrying outside the faith. Between this conflict and their desire to spare Brian's feelings, the relationship is kept mostly secret. As the relationship continues, Jake remains unwilling to view the relationship as serious, despite Anna’s hints at her "taking a class". She is upset when they run into members of Jake's congregation while on a date, and Jake introduces her only as "my old friend Anna". Brian is in private turmoil after also developing feelings for Anna, in conflict with his vows. He misinterprets Anna's words and actions – some of which are subtle signals to Jake – and even has an erotic dream about her. He seriously considers leaving the priesthood to pursue a romantic relationship with her. While the three have dinner with Ruth, she reveals to Anna that she knows about her and Jake's secret relationship. Jake and Brian walk in on the tearful moment, and Jake and Anna later argue over the religious issues complicating their romance and part ways. Anna calls Brian for comfort and he rushes to her, taking her tearful ramblings to be a confession of feelings for him. When Brian kisses Anna and confesses his love, she interrupts him, admitting she is in love with Jake and they have been seeing each other secretly for months. Embarrassed and rejected, he spends the night drinking on the streets. Still drunk the next day, Brian stumbles into Jake's temple and interrupts a post- bar mitzvah gathering, resulting in a confrontation that ends with the priest punching the rabbi. As the Community Center's grand opening approaches, along with the end of Anna's East Coast assignment, Jake reconciles with Brian, as does Anna soon after. A discussion with Brian prompts Jake to go to Anna's office building, with Brian shouting encouragement as he runs down the street. Interrupting Anna's going-away party, Jake gets her attention from a window across the street, and calls to explain himself and offer to set things right. That evening, Jake and Anna surprise Brian in the middle of his karaoke number at the interfaith center. She greets Rabbi Lewis and mentions their meetings together, revealing that she had been taking classes to convert to Judaism. She tells him she hopes to pick it up again as she is now staying in New York, with Jake clearly thrilled. The film ends with the three friends happily posing for a photo together.

Cast

* Ben Stiller as Rabbi Jacob "Jake" Schram :* Samuel R. Goldberg as Teenage Jake Schram *

as Father Brian Kilkenney Finn :* Michael Charles Roman as Teenage Brian Finn *

as Anna Reilly :* Blythe Auffarth as Teenage Anna Reilly * Anne Bancroft as Ruth Schram *

Miloš Forman Jan Tomáš "Miloš" Forman (; ; 18 February 1932 – 13 April 2018) was a Czech and American film director, screenwriter, actor, and professor who rose to fame in his native Czechoslovakia before emigrating to the United States in 1968. Forman ...

as Father Havel *

as Rabbi Ben Lewis * Holland Taylor as Bonnie Rose * Lisa Edelstein as Ali Decker * Rena Sofer as Rachel Rose *

Bodhi Elfman Bodhi Pine Elfman (born Bodhi Pine Saboff) is an American actor and the child of filmmaker Richard Elfman and Rhonda Joy Saboff. He is best known for playing the roles of Avram Hader in the Fox television series ''Touch'' and for his recurring r ...

as Howard the Casanova, the businessman in the office across the road * Brian George as Paulie Chopra, the Sikh Catholic Muslim with Jewish in-laws who owns an Irish Pub *

Ron Rifkin Ron Rifkin (born Saul M. Rifkin; October 31, 1939) is an American actor best known for his roles as Arvin Sloane on the spy drama ''Alias'', Saul Holden on the drama '' Brothers & Sisters'', and District Attorney Ellis Loew in ''L.A. Confidenti ...

as Larry Friedman * David Wain as Steve Posner * Eugene Katz as Mohel (performing the circumcision in opening sequence where Jake faints) *

Ken Leung Kenneth Leung (; born January 21, 1970) is an American actor. His roles include Sang in '' Rush Hour'', Miles Straume in ''Lost'', Admiral Statura in '' Star Wars: The Force Awakens'', and Eric Tao in HBO's ''Industry''. Early life Leung was ...

as Don, the electronics store owner *

Susie Essman Susan Essman is an American stand-up comedian, actress, writer and television producer, best known for her role as Susie Greene on ''Curb Your Enthusiasm'', Bobbi Wexler on ''Broad City'', and the voice of Mittens in '' Bolt''. Early life Essm ...

as Ellen Friedman *

Catherine Lloyd Burns Catherine Lloyd Burns is an American actress and author. She is best known for her role as Caroline Miller, the title character's teacher in the television series ''Malcolm in the Middle''. Acting She has appeared in multiple television sho ...

as Debbie * Radio Man (Craig Castaldo) as himself *

Brian Anthony Wilson Brian Anthony Wilson (born February 22, 1960) is an American film and television actor. He first appeared in the 1997 film '' The Postman'' as Woody. Wilson was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the l ...

as T-Bone

Reception

''Keeping the Faith'' received generally positive reviews. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

, it holds a 69% rating, sampled from 117 film critics, with an average score of 6.23/10. The consensus states: "A dramedy featuring an unusual love triangle, ''Keeping the Faith'' is a perceptive look at how religion affects us in everyday life."

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

gives the film a score of 60 out of 100, based on reviews from 31 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews." ''The New York Times'' film critic

Elvis Mitchell Elvis Mitchell (born December 6, 1958) is an American film critic, host of the public radio show ''The Treatment'', and visiting lecturer at Harvard University. He has served as a film critic for the ''Fort Worth Star-Telegram'', the ''LA Weekly ...

said the film "struggles hard to be a modern romantic comedy about commitment and, well, faith, but it doesn't quite make the grade ... it is competent, but it seems driven to clear up complications as quickly as acne is dispatched in an infomercial." In ''Variety'', Emanuel Levy praised Stiller's acting and said "''Keeping the Faith'' is arguably the most accomplished" romantic movie in its era. The film is recognized by

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Lead ...

in these lists: * 2002: AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions – Nominated

Box office

The film opened at #3 at the US box office, making $8,078,671 in its opening weekend, behind '' 28 Days'' and ''

Rules of Engagement Rules of engagement (ROE) are the internal rules or directives afforded military forces (including individuals) that define the circumstances, conditions, degree, and manner in which the use of force, or actions which might be construed as pro ...

''. The film eventually grossed $37,047,880 in North America and $22,897,303 in other territories, totaling $59,945,183 worldwide.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Keeping The Faith 2000 films 2000 romantic comedy films American romantic comedy films 2000s English-language films Films scored by Elmer Bernstein Films directed by Edward Norton Christian and Jewish interfaith dialogue Films set in Manhattan Films shot in New Jersey Films shot in New York City American interfaith romance films Spyglass Entertainment films Touchstone Pictures films Films about Catholic priests Films about Jews and Judaism American buddy films 2000 directorial debut films 2000s American films