At The Movies

Sunday Brunch Bu

11:00 am - 2:00 pm

Includes:
Assorted Juices - Cranberry • Orange • Pineapple • Grapefruit • Apple
Assorted Cold Salads - Tuna • Vegetable • Cucumber • Pasta
Smoked Salmon • Smoked Fish • Bagels with Cream Cheese • Caviar • Capers
Hot Dishes (including) -
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Fresh Steamed Vegetables • Potatoes or Rice • Omelettes
Pancakes or French Toast • Scrambled Eggs
Assorted Desserts - Cobbler • Cakes • Tortes • Cookies
Coffee • Assorted Herbal Teas and Soft Drinks

'16"

Children under 5

"Whats the most
eligible rabbi in
New York to do
when he falls in
love with a
non-Jewish girl?

Children 6-12

S 100 Per

FREE

Year

Items are subject to change

Make Your Pre-Passover Dinner Reservations

7295 Orchard Lake Road, West Bloomfield, Michigan 48322
Robins Nest Shopping Plaza
248-932-8934 Reservations Suggested

`Keeping The Faith'

VISIT OUR WEB SITE AT www.ladifference.com

DINA FUCHS

Special to the Jewish News

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T is one of the oldest jokes in the
&book and it goes like this ...
"So, there's a priest and a rabbi ...
yada, yada, yada." Though the punch
lines may be different, the end result
usually invokes a chuckle or a snick-
er, but never the kind of rau-
cous laughter that makes
you want to run out and
tell your friends about it.
That's exactly the feeling you
get from Keeping the Faith, Academy
Award-nominated actor Ed Norton's
first attempt at producing and
directing a major motion picture.
The story line is promising. A
rabbi, Jake Schram, played by Ben
Stiller, and a priest, Brian Finn,
played by Norton, have a friendship
that goes back to grade school.
Around the sixth grade, the pair
befriend cutesy tomboy Anna Reilly
(Jenny Elfrnan) and pal around like
the Three Musketeers — until her
family moves away two years later.
Fast-forward about 16 years and
the trio are reunited in New York
City when Anna moves to town for
business. Of course, none of them is
attached and a complicated
love/hate triangle ensues.
There are some key moments of
comic relief and sharp dialogue
("God is a lot like Blanche Dubois in
Streetcar Named Desire. He depends
on the kindness of strangers") and
Stiller's turn as a young, vivacious
rabbi is part motivational

speaker/part stand-up comedian.
Attempting to spice up his congrega-
tion's rendition of "Ein Keloheinu,"
he brings in a gospel choir. And
Norton does a dead-on imitation of
Dustin Hoffman in Rainman.
But together, Jake and Brian are an
odd couple. Like the hip-hop Blues
Brothers of the clergy, they are fondly
referred to as "the God Squad."
Anna, in turn, is a looker
and a savvy corporate
climber. "If God had hired
me, he would have made the
world by Thursday," the self-pro-
fessed workaholic exclaims proudly.
But despite the largely stereotypi-
cal religious fodder and enormously
exaxerated New York tendencies of
several characters — including
Anne Bancroft as Jake's mother and
The Practice's Holland Taylor as a
congregant overly eager to marry off
her daughter (Rena Safer) to the
rabbi — neither the love story nor
the friendship is convincing. When a
love connection is finally reached, it
appears completely out of the blue.
It's all downhill from there, as the
film gets mired down in schmaltz
and eventually morphs into a debate
on the trials and tribulations of
interfaith relationships.
In the end, Father Brian rightful-
ly bemoans, "I feel like I'm in some
bad new Aaron Spelling show."
Maybe next time Norton should
stick to what he does best.
Rated PG-13. ** (out of four)

Dina Fuchs is an Atlanta-based
freelance writer.

