Director: Edward Norton
Cast: Ben Stiller, Jenna Elfman, Edward Norton, Eli Wallach
Have I Seen it Before: Yes. I’m more than a little surprised to learn that there were a few moments that have lived rent-free in my head for over a quarter of a century.
I thought about going to seminary once. Before you start asking whether that was decades ago, or just last week, just know I may not have a real answer to that question, especially as time quite possibly more relative for me than it is for most. But every time I stop myself from taking that leap, somewhere in the back of my memory I hear someone saying that if you can imagine yourself being happy doing anything else, you should go and do that.
I never thought that the thought was coming from Edward Norton in this film.
Did I Like It: And it’s from there where the film’s surprising strength comes. Norton could have just swung a deal to direct a feature, rest on his laurels, and offer up a competent if unremarkable romantic comedy. No one would have had a problem with that. But this manages to weave into the proceedings some reasonably well-considered thoughts about not just faith—and even reaches to explain the difference between that and religion—but about what comittment might mean in all its myriad forms.
Here’s the thing I forgot though: The second part of that conversation is about faith, committment, and love being inextricably linked by the reality that it is not just about the committment that brings you to something, but about the decision you continuously make to show up.
A lot to chew on in a film that’s probably, ultimately, not quite as good as You’ve Got Mail (1998) but tries hard enough and manages not to embarrass anyone.