This is three or four movies squished into one. It's a lifespan movie, a romance, a comedy of manners, and it's some kind of commentary on modern urban life. Problem is, the elements of the movie-- the excellent cast, the lofty sentiments, the touching moments, the quirky ideas, the goofiness and the frustrations-- seem almost randomly inserted here and there throughout the cliché and mechanical "moments" that movie making by rote often produces.
None of it fits together as any kind of coherent whole-- and none of the possible movies actually gets made. Instead, I was able to enjoy a LOT in this flick, but I had to do so in a fragmented way. Nothing that came before each scene nor anything that came after fit. Nothing was built, nothing really meant anything, nothing ultimately satisfied.
It also didn't help that much of the movie's "craftsmanship" was sloppy. For example, Ed Norton's character, a Roman Catholic priest, gets staggeringly drunk at one point-- he is shown stumbling around with dirty, messed up clothing, and 3 or 4 days' worth whiskers on his face. He passes through a doorway, and his clothes are miraculously pressed, his shirt is tucked into his pants, and he has somehow shaved ("in a twinkling" perhaps?). Jenna Elfman's hair and body makeup also changed subtly within certain scenes. At times she had freckles, at other times not.
Plus the movie seemed visually muddy, almost blurred (several theater patrons present at my screening complained, and asked the management to have the projectors focused). Even after optical adjustments in the projection booth, and with the main faces on screen reasonably in focus-- it was still blurring SEEMING. All of that is small stuff, but it is distracting. Even crappy movies can manage bright colors on the film, and they also sometimes manage continuity. Note: the local Santa Barbara movie chain tends to project movies at what is apparently full brightness-- in reference to the recent controversy about theaters running projectors at lower voltage to save money. But even with the advantage of ample amps and wattage, "Keeping the Faith" looked dull and dingy.
You'll read lots of critical remarks about the movie's premises and plot, so let's not waste time on that. Suffice it to say, nothing fits together, and nothing is convincing, and nothing really works.
I must also add here that I am a tremendous fan of Jenna Elfman. I think her talent is enormous, and she is a charismatic and soulful human being and actor. She is immensely talented and gifted, as well as totally hot, so I expect that her film career will blossom and flourish in the next few years. So to her, and the other fine actors in this movie, I say, Don't despair-- don't freak; an "A" for effort, even if the whole thing is kind of a clunker. At least the potential can be seen. For real Elfman fans, it is worth the effort, although it does become somewhat of a "Do it yourself" ordeal. I gave "Keeping the Faith" a 6 out of 10.
