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Keeping The Faith
List Price: Unknown [Buy now and save at Amazon]
The Movie:
Early on in "Keeping the Faith", Edward Norton's character warns another one that "this is going to be a long story". At 129 minutes, "Keeping the Faith" may be long, but that's not always a negative thing here. Much of Norton's directing debut is smart, funny and well-acted. There are spots here and there were the movie could be tightened a bit, but a lot of the film had me laughing.
As for the story, did you hear the one about the priest and the rabbi? It's given a longer telling in "Faith", which revolves around Rabbi Jake(Ben Stiller) and Father Brian(Edward Norton). Friends since childhood, they remember the one girl that was their best pal, Anna(Jenna Elfman). One day, Anna returns and as an adult, she's a high-powered businesswoman. The two find themselves in love with Anna, and a complex set of problems ensue.
Norton and Stiller seem like they're having fun as the two main friends of the title, which makes the reports that the two did not get along during filming a bit tough to believe. I'm no longer much of a fan of Elfman's "Dharma and Greg" show, but I think she can be a very strong comedic actress in the right role. For the most part, she succeeds here and has a few very amusing moments.
Going back to the length, I've got to register my main complaint about the film is that at over two hours, it becomes weaker towards the second half where it begins to run out of steam. Editing would have helped - at 129 minutes, the picture would have worked better had it come in towards the 100-105 minute mark. The first half of the movie has some very funny moments, but as it goes on there are scenes that start to drift beyond their borders.
Ultimately though, "Faith" shows that Norton does have skill as a director as although it's sometimes slow, the movie has a generally likable tone and performances that seem as if they're having fun. Now I can say that I'm not only looking forward to the next movie Norton is acting in, but I'm eager to see what he'll direct next as problems with this "Faith" might be improved in his next effort.
The DVD
VIDEO: Although not as much of a stunner as Buena Vista's recent edition of "Shanghai Noon", "Keeping the Faith" still is an enjoyable presentation from the studio. Hopefully a sign of the studio's supposed "new outlook" on DVD, the anamorphic transfer here is not hurt too bad by the small flaws that sometimes appear. Here, we get an anamorphic transfer in the film's original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Sharpness is consistently pretty good. Some of the interior scenes are somewhat less successful - they look a little bit softer and not as well-defined. Detail fares pretty well throughout, and clarity is never a problem.
There were a few other problems that I noticed during the film, as well. It seemed to be more during the begining of the film, but there were a couple of instances where print flaws were noticable. Just a couple of minor marks, but more than I'd like to see. The rest of the film though, looked clean and clear in this regard. A bit of minor pixelation appears once or twice, but these are brief and not terribly distracting.
Colors are rich and natural, looking nicely saturated and very pleasing. There are some shots of the New York City outdoors that look especially beautiful. This is a pretty good presentation through a good deal of the movie, but I would have liked to have seen a bit smoother overall look to the picture quality at times.
SOUND: The film's Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is a prime example of a dialogue-driven movie. As a comedy, there's not a whole lot going on here sound wise, and aside from the music, this is really a front-only presentation. The music comes through clearly and cleanly, and dialogue is natural and easily heard. Really not a movie that uses sound much.
MENUS:: Menus are non-animated, with very basic images serving as backgrounds.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: This is a commentary track from director Edward Norton and writer Stuart Blumberg. It's good to see that both Norton and Pitt(in the recent "Legends Of the Fall" special edition) have gone on to additional commentary tracks since they proved to be such interesting speakers during the "Fight Club" commentary. Here, since Norton and Blumberg have been friends for quite a long time, they chat back and forth as if they enjoy working together quite a bit, if their comments in general seem to be a bit low-key and relaxed. As a first-time director, Norton's comments generally branch off from ways he chose to take the movie and his experiences during his first time in the director's chair. The two go scene-to-scene, talking about various stories and details that the viewer might have missed. There are very few pauses during the commentary, and although I didn't think this was a fantastic commentary it was still a pretty good one.
Production Gag Reel: About 8 minutes worth of bloopers - for every few that aren't at all funny, there are one or two that are good for a solid laugh.
Deleted Scenes: There are 10 deleted scenes offered here, with optional commentary from Blumberg and Norton. Some of these scenes are kinda funny, but at 129 minutes for the final product, the movie is already too long.
Also: Cast and crew bios, full-frame theatrical trailer(Dolby 2.0).
Final Thoughts: There are movies that really fit that role of "a good rental". I found "Keeping the Faith" to be one of those films. The DVD begins to show signs of improvement from Buena Vista/Disney, with the exception of a few minor problems with the picture quality.
Early on in "Keeping the Faith", Edward Norton's character warns another one that "this is going to be a long story". At 129 minutes, "Keeping the Faith" may be long, but that's not always a negative thing here. Much of Norton's directing debut is smart, funny and well-acted. There are spots here and there were the movie could be tightened a bit, but a lot of the film had me laughing.
As for the story, did you hear the one about the priest and the rabbi? It's given a longer telling in "Faith", which revolves around Rabbi Jake(Ben Stiller) and Father Brian(Edward Norton). Friends since childhood, they remember the one girl that was their best pal, Anna(Jenna Elfman). One day, Anna returns and as an adult, she's a high-powered businesswoman. The two find themselves in love with Anna, and a complex set of problems ensue.
Norton and Stiller seem like they're having fun as the two main friends of the title, which makes the reports that the two did not get along during filming a bit tough to believe. I'm no longer much of a fan of Elfman's "Dharma and Greg" show, but I think she can be a very strong comedic actress in the right role. For the most part, she succeeds here and has a few very amusing moments.
Going back to the length, I've got to register my main complaint about the film is that at over two hours, it becomes weaker towards the second half where it begins to run out of steam. Editing would have helped - at 129 minutes, the picture would have worked better had it come in towards the 100-105 minute mark. The first half of the movie has some very funny moments, but as it goes on there are scenes that start to drift beyond their borders.
Ultimately though, "Faith" shows that Norton does have skill as a director as although it's sometimes slow, the movie has a generally likable tone and performances that seem as if they're having fun. Now I can say that I'm not only looking forward to the next movie Norton is acting in, but I'm eager to see what he'll direct next as problems with this "Faith" might be improved in his next effort.
The DVD
VIDEO: Although not as much of a stunner as Buena Vista's recent edition of "Shanghai Noon", "Keeping the Faith" still is an enjoyable presentation from the studio. Hopefully a sign of the studio's supposed "new outlook" on DVD, the anamorphic transfer here is not hurt too bad by the small flaws that sometimes appear. Here, we get an anamorphic transfer in the film's original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Sharpness is consistently pretty good. Some of the interior scenes are somewhat less successful - they look a little bit softer and not as well-defined. Detail fares pretty well throughout, and clarity is never a problem.
There were a few other problems that I noticed during the film, as well. It seemed to be more during the begining of the film, but there were a couple of instances where print flaws were noticable. Just a couple of minor marks, but more than I'd like to see. The rest of the film though, looked clean and clear in this regard. A bit of minor pixelation appears once or twice, but these are brief and not terribly distracting.
Colors are rich and natural, looking nicely saturated and very pleasing. There are some shots of the New York City outdoors that look especially beautiful. This is a pretty good presentation through a good deal of the movie, but I would have liked to have seen a bit smoother overall look to the picture quality at times.
SOUND: The film's Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is a prime example of a dialogue-driven movie. As a comedy, there's not a whole lot going on here sound wise, and aside from the music, this is really a front-only presentation. The music comes through clearly and cleanly, and dialogue is natural and easily heard. Really not a movie that uses sound much.
MENUS:: Menus are non-animated, with very basic images serving as backgrounds.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: This is a commentary track from director Edward Norton and writer Stuart Blumberg. It's good to see that both Norton and Pitt(in the recent "Legends Of the Fall" special edition) have gone on to additional commentary tracks since they proved to be such interesting speakers during the "Fight Club" commentary. Here, since Norton and Blumberg have been friends for quite a long time, they chat back and forth as if they enjoy working together quite a bit, if their comments in general seem to be a bit low-key and relaxed. As a first-time director, Norton's comments generally branch off from ways he chose to take the movie and his experiences during his first time in the director's chair. The two go scene-to-scene, talking about various stories and details that the viewer might have missed. There are very few pauses during the commentary, and although I didn't think this was a fantastic commentary it was still a pretty good one.
Production Gag Reel: About 8 minutes worth of bloopers - for every few that aren't at all funny, there are one or two that are good for a solid laugh.
Deleted Scenes: There are 10 deleted scenes offered here, with optional commentary from Blumberg and Norton. Some of these scenes are kinda funny, but at 129 minutes for the final product, the movie is already too long.
Also: Cast and crew bios, full-frame theatrical trailer(Dolby 2.0).
Final Thoughts: There are movies that really fit that role of "a good rental". I found "Keeping the Faith" to be one of those films. The DVD begins to show signs of improvement from Buena Vista/Disney, with the exception of a few minor problems with the picture quality.
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