REVIEW of "KEEPING THE FAITH " at KARLOVY VARY, 2000. Directed by and starring Ed Norton, his behind the camera debut at age 29. With Ben Stiller, Jenna Elfman, Eli Wallach, and Ann Bancroft. Ann odd triangle between and among a young Catholic priest (Norton) a young rabbi (Stiller), and a drop-dead beautiful trim blonde Shicksa. This is a mildly amusing romantic comedy set in New York with lots of Jewish shtik and shtiklach. Stiller plays the mod rabbi with the tenacity of a Kosher Apeman, Italian-American Ann Bancroft as the mother is Jewish-motherly convincing, and Jewish Czech director, Milos Forman, does a cameo as an elder of Catholic church, while Eli Wallach, in a radical departure from the villain roles which made him famous in Spaghetti westerns, is an elder of the synagogue. Ed, the priest, should have won the girl but his vows of chastity rule that out. In the end, after many misunderstandings, she's all set to convert to Judaism and live happily ever after as the rabbi's future wife. Elfman is a real discovery and should soon become a leading presence in American mainstream flicks. she has the pristine purity of a Doris Day with a nineties awareness and style, all hung on a perfectly fitnessed framework: After all, she's a classically trained ballerina. Altogether this is an appealing if cliché-ridden feel-good flick with a strong theme-message of unself-conscious interfaith interaction, although some strictly Orthodox "frimme leute" may not care too much for the idea of a rabbi about to marry a Shicksa no matter how "shein" and lovable she might be. Ed Norton, who played in Forman's "The People versus Larry Flynt" is a special guest of the fest as is Eli Wallach. Mr. Wallach, a veteran of over 100 movies in a long and brilliant career and still active at 85, added a bit of living film history to the current festival and was roundly applauded by a spellbound collection of local media, newsmen, and film critics. Alex, Karlovy Vary, Thursday, July 6. 2000