“Here’s another film whose journey with me once started with a trailer I had zero interest in. First off, I dont do rom-coms. Secondly, could the premise (a priest and a rabbi fall in love with the same girl) be any more contrived? Third, exactly how romatically involved can men of the cloth get? It just didnt make sense, and I had no intention of ever seeing it.
And then Edward Norton became my favorite actor, and I had to watch every movie he was ever in (he actually directed this too!) I think its obvious that I loved this.
Let’s combat the Dawn-doesnt-do-rom-coms thing. Argument 1 – are you really gonna call a Ben Stiller movie romantic? Argument 2 – Its ultimately about the friendship between the three characters. We dont even get into the romance til about halfway thru.
Having grown up with a strong religious background (Christian family, Catholic schooling), I really like that whole religious aspect to it. That’s something that makes this film unique.
Then there’s the cast. I do prefer Ben Stiller as realistic characters, and Rabbi Jake is such a teddy bear. Edward Norton is hilarious in a rare comedic role. He basically just plays (like the Rain Man bit). Jenna Elfman is rather bad ass for your Juliet type, very much the type of chick I aspire to be.”