Happy Wednesday, everyone!
A random movie recommendation that is the absolute opposite of the main recommendations, but worth watching if you want something that is nasty and incisive in all the right ways: Billy Wilder’s Ace in the Hole, now available on Amazon Prime.
REALLY loved this piece by Anne Helen Petersen about her upcoming book: “Imagine Your Flexible Office Work Future.” Found myself nodding in agreement in multiple places and envisioning great things ahead…
It’s definitely worth reading about what’s going on in Jackson, MS, where a predominantly Black city has gone without clean water for over two weeks now with scant news coverage and no end to their misery in sight. Today’s Anti-Racism Daily did a good job at unpacking what’s going on and has a bunch of great links to learn more and support the impacted communities.
Lastly, while I was really hoping that “Jaja Ding Dong” would get the Oscar campaign for Best Original Song from Eurovision Song Contest (#JusticeForJaja), if I have to pick a horse in the race … it’s going to be “My Hometown” from the movie. The town of Húsavík that’s featured in the film even put together a video about how much they want to win! Come on, you can’t not love this…
Now, what you came for…
DAY 356: Keeping the Faith (available on HBO Max)
You’ve seen love triangles before, but you’ve never seen one quite like Keeping the Faith. Both Ben Stiller’s Jake and Edward Norton’s Brian pine for the love of their childhood friend, Jenna Elfman’s Anna, who suddenly reappears in their lives. Only problem? Jake is a rabbi whose congregation would riot if he married outside the faith, and Brian is a priest in the Catholic faith where no marriage at all is allowed. It’s obvious upon the reunion that there are no prospects for a relationship between any of them, something Anna respects … though it’s not clear either of the men do.
The real tragedy is that their romantic rivalry begins to get in the way of Jake and Brians’s important interfaith work, finding ways to bring New York’s Jewish and Catholic communities together in meaningful cultural exchange. Both men, as young standard-bearers for their faith, want to find ways to halt declining service attendance by enlivening worship and challenging their congregation’s narrow-mindedness. (In one particularly memorable scene, Jake brings in a Black gospel choir to play the role of cantors to equal parts amused and aghast parishioners.) Each man knows where the third rail exists in their faith communities, and they’ll bend over backward in hilarious ways to avoid touching it while still fulfilling their desires.
Keeping the Faith stands above the average rom-com because it’s so clear-eyed about the obstacles that stand in the way of an amorous pairing. How do Brian and Jake respond when the one thing that stands in the way of them pursuing love is the very faith that sustains them? Edward Norton’s never preachy film makes for a poignant, powerful examination of how spirituality and sensuality butt heads. Though it gets into serious territory, the film always maintains levity and sweetness thanks to the hilarity embedded throughout.
Be good to yourselves and to each other,
Marshall