xorys Review of Keeping the Faith

Keeping the Faith (2000)

A bad, bad, bad movie... swamped by the curse of low-grade intelligence

[2/10 · 2 December 2000]

This is a bad, bad, bad movie. Not that it's dumb... it would be better if it were. It deals thoughtfully with weighty and significant subjects... but it's afflicted throughout with the curse of low-grade intelligence, which is much worse than stupidity. With remarkable consistency almost every line in the movie takes the semi-smart low road - it's like being stuck in a restaurant with a bunch of people who think they're clever and are determined to discuss worthwhile things, and absolutely won't shut up, and keep saying bland and obvious, halfway plausible, but ultimately pointless and useless things. Actually it's worse than that... because here there are the elements of narrative and character, and those are consistently badly done with the same persistent mediocrity. Nobody comes out of this looking good... but then it's hard for actors to shine when they're working with such poor material. In fact, though, come to think of it, Anne Bancroft does manage to come off unscathed... which is a considerable testimony to her immense talent and experience. The younger players are not so lucky, and mostly sink under the half-thoughts of the script... especially Edward Norton as the priest (and he bears most responsibility, having directed the picture as well). I'm sorry if this is cruel, but I'd really have to say that Stuart Blumberg, the writer, should look for another line of work... please... and don't write novels either - we deserve to be spared more of this. One also has to question the wisdom of Norton as director - what did he think he was doing with this? Was he aiming for deep...? If so, he failed by a long way. Was he aiming for light romantic comedy? Failed that one too. If he must direct movies, maybe he should stick to something more visceral, with minimal dialogue. Not really recommended to anyone... although I suppose a very young, somewhat thoughtful person who'd never seen a halfway intelligent movie about priests and rabbis might get something out of it.