99. Have I Told You Lately &...

Lyrics

Have I told you lately that I love you?
Have I told you there's no one above you?
Fill my heart with gladness, take away my sadness
Ease my troubles that's what you do

Oh, the morning sun in all it's glory
Greets the day with hope and comfort too
And you fill my life with laughter, you can make it better
Ease my troubles that's what you do

There's a love that's divine
And it's yours and it's mine, like the Sun
At the end of the day
We should give thanks and pray, to the One

And say,
Have I told you lately that I love you?
Have I told you there's no one above you?
Fill my heart with gladness, take away my sadness
Ease my troubles that's what you do

There's a love that's divine
And it's yours and it's mine
And it shines like the Sun
At the end of the day
We will give thanks and pray, to the One

Have I told you lately that I love you?
Have I told you there's no one above you
Fill my heart with gladness, take away my sadness
Ease my troubles, that's what you do

Take away my sadness
Fill my life with gladness
Ease my troubles that's what you do

Fill my life with gladness
Take away my sadness
Ease my troubles that's what you do

This is not one of my favorite songs, but it's one that's impossible to hate. Especially after you've seen the clip. I had not seen it before and thought that Van Morrisson was a smooth, slick dude, something like Sting. He is in fact much closer to Brendan Gleeson. I did not know that before linking the song to a movie, which means I chose a lighthearted Hollywood romantic comedy that involves religion and faith. 

The Movie: Keeping the Faith (Edward Norton, 2000)

I had seen Keeping the Faith a long time ago, and liked it very much. I was a bit surprised, and happy, that it still holds up. It is not a great movie, but it achieves exactly what it wants to, it makes you care deeply about the three main characters, and it has a very good heart. I am also a big fan of Edward Norton. He is one of my favorite actors, and I think he is the best American actor of his generation. I think his run from his debut up until Death to Smoochy is pretty impressive. Although American History X and Fight Club are not nearly as good as their popularity/reputation suggests, Norton had not made a movie that was less than good during that period. And he himself was great in every one of them, though I haven't seen The People vs Larry Flynt yet. Norton's confidence in those early roles is also quite impressive. If you didn't know better you'd never know you are watching someone who has just burst on the scene. At the same time he comes off as very sympathetic, and decent actor in all his roles, even when his character is vile. So, now that Birdman came out I was quite surprised, and a bit disappointed to find out that Norton is considered a bit of an asshole by many in the film business, I must say though that in the end I don't much care. I think he is still a great actor, Besides, I don't think you can play a role such as Scout Master Ward (Moonrise Kingdom) or Monty Brogan (25th Hour, Spike Lee's best film, and one of my absolute favorite movies) if  you are a complete asshole.

Having said that, it is quite clear that Norton can be self-indulgent and a bit narcissistic. Keeping the Faith has a completely gratuitous scene that only serves to show that Norton can speak Spanish.  And although Ben Stiller eventually gets the girl here, it is Edward Norton's character who is presented as the true hero of the film.  That scene in which Norton speaks Spanish is all the more noticeable, because it is one of the few scenes in Keeping the Faith that's neither a payoff or a set-up for something. Norton doesn't seem to care much about throwaway jokes and scenes. This is not a compliment. Based on Keeping the Faith Norton is not a great director. This is not a crisply directed movie, you can basically feel the thinking that Norton has to do to guide this movie to the end. It's laborious in a very obvious way. Also no movie should waste Eli Wallach like this. Yet it works because of the really good screenplay (by Stuart Blumberg) and because the three main characters are really given depth, and the tree main actors (Norton, Stiller and Jenna Elfman, who based on this movie really should have beem/become a star at the level of Stiller and Norton) all give very good performances.