Keeping The Faith (2000)

Stop me if you've heard this one before, a priest, a rabbi, and a girl head into a bar... you guys can seriously stop me anytime. That is because the film I chose for today sort of has that premise as we tackle another Sheldon's choice in 2000's Keeping The Faith. The film was directed by and stars Edward Norton (Primal Fear) as Father Brian Finn who recounts a story of love and betrayal to a bartender (Brian George). Brian along with Rabbi Jake Schram (Ben Stiller) have been friends ever since they were kids, but they'll never forget the girl they were in love with when they were kids because she has returned into their lives and she complicates things as both of them once again fall in love. The film also stars Jenna Elfman (Ed TV) as Anna Riley, Anne Bancroft (The Graduate) as Ruth Schram, Eli Wallach (The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly) as Rabbi Ben Lewis, Ron Rifkin (A Star Is Born) as Larry Friedman, Milos Forman (One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest) as Father Havel, Holland Taylor (Two And A Half Men) as Bonnie Rose, Rena Sofer (The Bold and The Beautiful) as Rachel Rose, Ken Leung (Star Wars: Episode VII- The Force Awakens) as Don, and Lisa Edelstein (Girlfriends Guide To Divorce) as Ali Decker.

I am not so sure how I feel about Jenna Elfman because she was an OK actress who gained popularity through a television show, but she was not a leading lady because her performance in this film was OK. I thought that the strongest performances in the film came from Ben and Edward who play the stars of the show, but I just felt that Jenna couldn't really keep up with their star power. There were times where some of her mannerisms felt too forced in some scenes, but as far as the movie was concerned this was a decent first attempt at directing by Edward Norton. There were definitely moments in the film placed their for his fellow actors to shine that could have been left out because they either dragged the scene too long or just were unnecessary. I'm not sure if he intentionally was trying to point out the dilemma between interfaith relationships and what I mean by that is they represented the new ideals where anyone should marry anyone regardless of faith versus the people Stiller was trying to impress that represented the old way of thinking. Nonetheless, the film loses it's steam in that regard as it gets lost in the romantic comedy Hollywood tropes that it tries to follow faithfully. It is not a terrible movie by any means, but two hours was just too much for this film. There is definitely some fantastic moments like the cinematography or Ken Leung as Don the karaoke salesmen. That is why I checked it out for free on VUDU and also why I am going to give the film an C+/B- (Somewhere in there) for a final grade.

Bubble Boy (2001)

One of the ideas of doing a blog site like this or a movie challenge of any sorts is to check out films that you may have missed because they fell by the wayside or you just couldn't get around to them. Back in 2016, I did a 366 movie challenge and one of the actors I enjoyed the most were films with Jake Gyllenhaal (Enemy) who has also grown to be one of my favorite actors in the world. The film I decided to watch for today is one that I avoided for obviously a very long time, but never late than never as I watched 2001's Bubble Boy. The film was a dark comedic take on the 1976 classic The Boy In The Plastic Bubble as Gyllenhaal stars as Jimmy Livingston, a boy who has lived in a plastic bubble his whole life because he has no immunity system. After becoming best friends with Chloe (Marley Shelton), the girl next door, he begins to fall in love with her, but then he finds out she's getting married to some jerk. One day, he decides to build a bubble suit so he can try and stop the wedding from happening. The film also stars Danny Trejo (Machete) as Slim, Swoosie Kurtz (Liar Liar) as Mrs. Livingston, John Carroll Lynch (American Horror Story) as Mr. Livingston, Verne Troyer (The Love Guru) as Dr. Phreak, Matthew McGrory (The Devil's Rejects) as Human Sasquatch, Brian George (Employee Of The Month) as Pushpop, Patrick Cranshaw (Old School) as Pappy, and the film was directed by Blair Hayes (Night Music).

I was actually expecting this film to be very cheesy considering it was showing for free on the VUDU app, but it really wasn't all that bad. It actually had some real funny moments in the film that had me in stitches. Here is this kid that is being raised by a super religious mother inside of a plastic bubble and the only education he knows is that of what his mother has taught him. So, when Marley Shelton's character comes over to visit, things begin to happen that never had before for him and it's the funniest thing. The real awesome and funny moments of the film happen when he hits the road and man was it a fun movie to watch at that point. There are some great moments and great cameos from future stars like Zach Galifianakis, Arden Myrin, Pablo Schreiber, and various Hollywood deep cut names like Robert LaSardo, Fabio, Cleo King, The Sklar Brothers, and even Leo Fitzpatrick (Kids). Those are just some of the names that help play a part in all of the madness that ensues in the film once he gets out on the road. The only thing that I will say about the film that I didn't enjoy was the film's choice for the "villain boyfriend" role that was played by Dave Sheridan and I am honestly not sure if it was because he wasn't enough of a presence or if the role was just bad. I have seen better guys play the asshole boyfriend role and even Craig Kilborn did a better job in Old School then he did and that's because the writing for his role was better. All I am saying is that you're not even worried in the slightest that he is going to actually marry Marley's character. You kind of figure that Jake's character is going to save the day that's how bad that was. It was a decent, fun film to watch, and why not it was free on VUDU. That is why I am going to give the film an C+/B- (somewhere in there) for a final grade.