At last, a real Romantic Comedy! Keeping the Faith is the first purely Romantic Comedy I've seen this year. The Whole Nine Yards was the closest movie to this category that I had seen this year, but it had too many other elements to be a pure RC movie. Movies like this make me realize that this is probably my favorite movie category -- I feel the best after a good Romantic Comedy.

Keeping the Faith is about two childhood buddies, Brian Finn and Jacob Schram, who have both grown up and joined their respective clergy, Brian becoming a Catholic Priest and Jacob a Jewish Rabbi. Their greatest female friend was Anna Reilly, who they only knew for a year or two in 8th grade. Now that they are almost 30 and up-and-coming stars in their respective religions, Anna returns to New York on business and to catch up on old times. And that's when the romance starts.

Edward Norton plays Father Brian Finn, a rather outgoing guy who, with the arrival of Anna, has started to question his faith and his role in the clergy. Norton does a good job in the movie, as he's also one of the producers and the director. Although Brian is one of the three major characters, he gets a bit less screen time than the other two. Previously I've seen in Fight Club, where he also did a good acting job.

Ben Stiller plays Rabbi Jacob Schram, a very popular Rabbi trying to inject life into the sermons with music and comedy. Jacob is beset by young women looking for a good husband, and he also tries to reconcile what people expect from a Rabbi with his affection for Anna. Stiller plays the role well and, along with Norton, has been named as one of the hot young actors in Hollywood. I've also seen him in There's Something About Mary and Zero Effect, both of which, along with Keeping the Faith, are fine medium budget movies.

Jenna Elfman plays Anna Reilly, an accomplished business executive, more of a troubleshooter and dealmaker. Anna is so busy she doesn't have room for a boyfriend, but maybe it's just that she hasn't met the right person. Once the trio is rejoined, their renewed friendship blossoms into something more as she starts to fall in love. Once again, another good acting job by Elfman, who plays a sort of Dharma in the business world character. She was ok in Edtv, although I wasn't that impressed with the movie so maybe that's why. Elfman does a great job in Dharma and Greg, and was also ok in Townies, although I thought Molly Ringwald and Lauren Graham were better.

Also appearing in Keeping the Faith is Anne Bancroft, who plays Jacob's mother. She hasn't spoken to Jacob's older brother in two years, ever since he married a Catholic girl, and this is one of the reasons that Jacob is unsure about how he really feels about Anna. That's one of the themes in the movie: how does Jacob reconcile the expectations of other people -- his mother, the higher-ups in the clergy, his congregation -- with his feelings. How responsible is he to be a good Rabbi versus being happy? The same sort of dilemma plagues Brian, who has the abstinance thing to worry about.

This is an excellent movie. Very funny, with a satisfying ending. Lots of good information on the expectations of the clergy, and it's interesting how the two religions contrast in their procedures and styles. It's an interesting love triangle, more so because of their occupations. Three successful people, each able to stand up on their own, yet needing each other for friendship and support.

If you like Romantic Comedies, this is a good one to watch. It goes into general release this Friday. I've finally figured out that the local cineplex seems to garner movies for preview showings. So I got to see the movie a week early, although there was only one showing so the room was crowded.