you've probably heard the one about the priest and the rabbi , but never with the same dosage of featherweight charm that is sprinkled over `keeping the faith' . 
it's a fluffy comedy , thoroughly glazed with a sense of innocuous innocence and good cheer , regarding two moral topics -- love and religion -- and how a romantic triangle causes the two to collide head-on . 
as youngsters , brian finn , jacob schramm and anna reilly were an inseparable trio . 
while their friendship progressed , anna always had the compassion to shower them both with the same love and support , so neither would feel excluded . 
but tragedy soon struck , as anna was forced to move away . 
now adults , brian ( edward norton ) and jacob ( ben stiller ) hold similar but contrastive jobs . 
the likable and kind-hearted father brian is a catholic priest , while the spry and outgoing jacob acts as a jewish rabbi . 
on the basketball court , they refer to themselves as `the god squad' . 
in the relationship field , brian abides by his catholic principle of celibacy , but jacob has reached the point where finding a jewish bride is practically mandatory . 
everything changes when anna ( jenna elfman ) returns to new york to visit her childhood chums . 
now a workaholic , she devotes endless hours per week to her business , but does find spare time to reminisce with brian and jacob - both ecstatic about seeing their elementary school sweetheart once again . 
with these oddball ingredients tossed into one cocktail , there's bound to be some awkward romance between our three central characters . 
predicting the outcome is not entirely difficult , but `keeping the faith' is open , entertaining and refreshingly relaxed as it travels en route from point a to point b . 
edward norton has emerged as one of the finest , most flexibly versatile actors in hollywood - a success story sparked by his critically lauded debut in the 1996 thriller `primal fear' . 
after shockingly bitter roles in `american history x' and , most recently , david fincher's vicious `fight club' , a quaint romantic comedy might seem like a peculiar choice . 
not in the least . 
norton slips into the director's chair for the first time with `keeping the faith' , and here his incisive , resourceful approach helps add additional craft to a surprisingly perceptive screenplay by stuart blumberg . 
weighing every aspect , it is unanimously an impressive directorial debut . 
in addition , norton pushes all the right buttons with the sheepish sweetheart brian , generating a thoroughly likable screen presence . 
stiller ( the zipper guy from `there's something about mary' ) is firm and funny , boasting a fully-ripened comic maturity . 
elfman's perky repetition can grow tiresome ( such is occasionally the case on tv's `dharma and greg' ) , but she seems perfectly rambunctious here . 
the remaining cast members offer fine support , from anne bancroft as jacob's animated jewish mom to milos forman as an elderly priest quick to contribute intelligent advice . 
`keeping the faith' is the perfect date flick . . . 
though perfection is not a word to associate with the film in general . 
there is turbulence during the process of lift-off , as numerous failed attempts at establishing the situation cloud the projected comedy ahead . 
once the film does settle in , it is often funny and always cheerful . 
stiller , norton and elfman have created three enormously lovable personalities . 
we enjoy their interaction , understand their various dilemmas and feel humbled to realize everything rings perfectly true . 
this is excluding the ending , which is acceptable and all , but seems to lack the charm and spontaneity of the preceding romantic entanglements . 
nonetheless , a narrowly mishandled finale certainly won't wipe the smile off your face , nor anyone else's in the audience . 
`keeping the faith' is a highly enjoyable romantic comedy , although one that is more observant while surveying the questions of love rather than religion . 
aww , what the hell . 
the quality is not quite heaven-sent , but this little charmer could revive our `faith' in a potentially tired filmmaking genre . 
