Keeping the Faith

year: 2000; rated: PG-13; genre: romantic comedy
Edward Norton, Ben Stiller, Jenna Elfman

Two best friends - a priest and a rabbi fall in love with the same girl they were friends with in 8th grade. However, neither of them can be in a relationship with her, because of his religious beliefs.

I usually hate romantic comedies. They're boring, predictable, stupid, sappy and not funny at all. But once in a while, there comes a romantic comedy that is nothing like that. The last one I can remember is
There's Something About Mary (***1/2) in 1998. "Mary" and "Keeping the Faith" may look alike, but they are very different movies. While "Mary" was a laugh-out-loud movie, with some romance and no depth in the story whatsoever, "Keeping the Faith" is not nearly as funny, but it has a much more interesting storyline that is thought-provoking. Don't get me wrong, "Keeping the Faith" is funny. In fact, it's the funniest movie I've seen so far this year. But there's more to it than slapstick. The strong storyline is backed by very good performances - Ben Stiller is good as usual, Jenna Elfman too, and Ed Norton proves to be one of the most talented actors, and directors in the world. The only flaw I can find in "Keeping the Faith" is it's running time, wich is a little longer than it should have been. Overall, "Keeping the Faith" it's an entertaining, well-acted and funny movie that has depht in it's storyline.

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