I wouldn’t go as far as saying that Keeping the Faith, the new comedy from director turned actor Edward Norton, is better than Heaven Can Wait. Or even really in the same league. But it was a delightful movie, and while Ed Norton is no Warren Beatty, he shows tremendous promise, and I hold out great hope for his future endeavours. Keeping the Faith shares much in common with Beatty’s 1978 Heaven Can Wait (one of my favourite films of all time): they are both movies about religious faith, romantic faith, and the marriage of the two; they both include wonderful mature actors in interesting roles (James Mason and Buck Henry in the former, Anne Bancroft, Milos Forman and Ron Rifkin in the the later); and they are both intelligent comedies that manage to move beyond the traditional “romantic buddy movie” formula (see Trial and Error, Nothing to Lose) and include some interesting reflections on the human condition. I recommend both.

Of note: Milos Forman was also in the 1986 Mike Nichols film Heartburn, which also starred SCTV’s Catherine O’Hara. James Mason appeared in 140 films from 1931 to 1985.