Courtesy Of Buena Vista Pictures
Sparks fly when Rabbi Ben Stiller and Father Edward Norton are reunited with child
hood friend Jenna Elfman in “Keeping the Faith.”
‘Faith’ less than fantastic
■ Based on an unoriginal
story line, ‘Keeping the
Faith’ doesn’t do much to
keep your interest
“Keeping the Faith”
Starring: Edward Norton, Ben Stiller and
Jenna Elfman
Directed by: Edward Norton
Rated PG-13
★☆☆☆☆
By Joe Walsh
Oregon Daily Emerald
If you like Ben Stiller ... if you
liked “There’s Something About
Mary” ... if you just like a good
comedy, you’ll hate “Keeping the
Faith.”
Edward Norton's directing de
but is disappointing, to say the
least. It’s a schmaltzy romantic
comedy about the love-lives of a
priest, a rabbi and a blonde.
Sounds like a bad joke, doesn’t it?
Well, the movie is a joke, and
unfortunately it’s not a very funny
one.
Best friends since childhood,
Jake Schram (Stiller) and Brian
Finn (Norton) are successful, sin
gle men living in New York City.
The two are reunited with Anna
Reilly (Jenna Elfman), another
childhood friend who has become
a beautiful corporate executive. Of
course, sparks fly and a complicat
ed love triangle is formed.
The twist is that Jake is a rabbi
and Brian is a Catholic priest.
As a rabbi, Jake faces enormous
pressure from his mother (Anne
Bancroft) and his congregation to
marry a Jewish woman. In fact, his
job depends on it.
As a Catholic priest, Brian is not
allowed to date or marry. And as
best friends, Jake and Brian know
that a relationship with Anna
would jeopardize, or at least com
plicate, their friendship.
But can the two remain true to
their faiths and friendships when
the lovable Anna reenters their
lives?
From the beginning, we watch
the two jockey for position to get
close to Anna, even though she is
out-of-bounds for both of them.
When Brian tells Jake that Anna
called him and she is moving back
to the city after being in California
since the three were eighth
graders, Jake is excited at first. But
then that funny little emotion
called envy kicks in and he won
ders why she chose to call Brian
instead of him. He concludes that
she must have chosen alphabeti
cally.
“Keeping the Faith” adds a bit
of a new spin on the age-old story
of two friends in love with the
same girl. It makes for a cute ro
mantic comedy, but it is really
aimed at an older audience.
It’s the kind of movie that your
grandparents will love.
On the positive side, always
comical Stiller has his moments.
But for the most part, he is shack
led by a boring, too-polite script.
The same can be said about
two-time Academy Award nomi
nee Norton. The movie just does
n’t allow him to do the great acting
that he is capable of.
As for Elfman, the hilarious star
of the ABC sitcom “Dharma and
Greg,” she seems confined to an
eye-candy role despite being the
perfect actress to play the role of
Anna, “the coolest girl” Jake and
Brian have ever known.
All in all, “Keeping the Faith” is
funny at times, but not much more
than a mushy rehash of a tired old
tale. For those of us in the under
50 crowd, it’s the can-miss movie
of the week.
‘Psycho’a disappointing follow-up
■ The message of the film
never makes itself visible,
and the movie is taken over
by gore and sex scenes
“American Psycho”
Starring: Christian Bale, Reese Wither
spoon, Cloe Sevigny, Samantha Mathis,
Jared Leto and Willem Dafoe
Rated R
★★☆☆☆
By joe Walsh
Oregon Daily Emerald
‘ American Pie” made me
laugh. “American Beauty” made
me think. But “American Psycho”
just made me sick.
< Of course I’m comparing apples
and oranges to a lemon, but I
.couldn’t help but expect the same
level of excellence that I had seen
in previous “American”-titled
films. There’s “American Were
wolf in London,” one of the all
time classic horror tales, and
“American History X,” which
raised serious questions about
racism in our society. The only
question “American Psycho”
raised was: Can I have my money
back?
Often pointless and drifting,
“American Psycho” falters in its
attempt to make a point about
greed, envy, egotism and male
chauvinism. Deep within the film
there’s a good message, but it’s
masked behind an onslaught of
gratuitous violence and sex
scenes.
Christian Bale plays Patrick
Bateman, the highly successful
but Machiavellian 27-year-old
vice president of a large corpora
tion. Bateman is a steely, cold
blooded shell of a man who at
tempts to achieve personal
perfection, but can never really
rise above those in his social ring
(I hesitate to call them friends). He
lives in a posh high-rise, but is dis
gusted that one of his colleagues'
apartments has a better view. He
buys the best suits, the best read
ing glasses and even the best busi
ness cards, but everyone has the
same ones.
Through his daily regimen of
sit-ups, health food and skin prod
ucts, he tries to set himself apart,
but he ends up looking just like
everyone else. In an ongoing joke,
he is actually mistaken for one of
his co-workers, even by his own
lawyer.
Quickly, we see Bateman's com
petitive nature turn against him as
he becomes uncontrollably homi
cidal. Ironically, his drive toward
perfection leads to his biggest flaw
as he begins killing everyone who
stands in his way, challenges his
efforts to stand out or just plain ir
ritates him.
Based on Bret Easton Ellis’ 1991
best seller, “American Psycho” is
more than just another bloody
slasher film. To its credit, the
movie is somewhat thought-pro
voking as it exposes the ugliness
of the American ideal that “he
who dies with the most toys
wins.”
Not to say it makes some sort of
deep connection with the serial
killer in all of us — it doesn’t. But
it does question the dog-eat-dog
world we live in and are often a
part of.
Also worthy of praise is Bales’
performance. He plays the despi
cable, calculating Bateman with
ease and never breaks character
Unlike Patrick Bateman,
“American Psycho” stands out
among the crowd. It is amazingly
disturbing and distinguishes itself
from other horror films with its at
tempt to make a meaningful state
ment. Unfortunately, there is too
much gore and not enough plot to
make it worth recommending.
Dr. Drew gives love medicine
■ The ‘Loveline’ co-host
will share his insights on
drugs, sex and health issues
By Rory Carroll
Oregon Daily Emerald
On Friday, April 21, the doctor
will be in.
Dr. Drew that is, and McArthur
Court will serve as his office from
7-8:30 p.m.
The Cultural Forum and the
University Health Center have
banded together to bring this free
event to the campus, which they
hope will be at once educational
and entertaining.
“My hope is that he will ad
dress social health issues and not
just sexual health questions,” said
Joanne Frank, director of health
education at the University Health
Center. Dr. Drew appeals to stu
dents because he tackles contem
porary issues, according to Frank.
Dr. Drew Pinsky, of MTV’s
“Loveline” fame, will begin with
a 45-minute talk before fielding
questions from the audience.
“It’s a great opportunity to see
someone that is nationally known
and who is also insightful and
helpful,” said Ian dayman, per
forming arts coordinator for the
Cultural Forum. “Dr. Drew has an
educational perspective without
alienating young people.”
Dr. Drew will be appearing sans
“Loveline” co-host Adam Carolla.
That’s because the focus of the
show is more educational and less
entertainment-based, dayman
said. The two hosts were expected
to attend a similar event at Oregon
State University, but Carolla’s
flight was canceled and Drew was
forced to conduct the show solo.
The event worked out great at
OSU without Carolla, dayman
said, so the health center decided
to take that approach for the Mac
Court event.
Byron McCrae, assistant dean of
student life, expects close to 2,000
students to attend on Friday. Mc
Crae cites Dr. Drew’s knowledge of
sexual health issues and his pop
ularity among students as the rea
son that he is the perfect candi
date for the event.
The event begins at 7:00 p.m.
and is free to UO students, faculty
and staff.
009058 i
l Presents its
,25th Annual
Luau
14
U in EMU Ballroom
students: $16.00
general: $19.00
Doors open at 6:30 pm
Dinner at 7 pm
Tickets available at EMU Ticket Office
For more info call 349-9835
Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Conductor
EUGENE SYMPHONY
Tickets: *82-5000
Concerfmponsor.
Additional support
Friday^^p^p 28, 8 pm
An evening of Academy Award-winning film scores—from
Hollywood classics to Hitchcock thrillers and box office
blockbusters. Unforgettable moments from Casablanca,
The Godfather, Haiders of the Lost Ark, Lawrence of
Arabia, Missionilmpossible—Play it again, Miguel!
witotSH