English, baby!

KEEPING THE FAITH

Date: Dec 07 2000

Intro

1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

2. Read and Prepare - Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

Plot: Jake Schram (Stiller) and Brian Finn (Norton) are best friends. Jake is a Rabbi and Brian is a Catholic priest. They are both single and extremly popular for their modern, unorthodox style of religion. They are getting along fine until their long-lost work-aholic friend Anna (Elfman) returns to New York and reunites the circle of friends only to turn it into a love triangle.
Clip: In this scene Brian and Jake just get done playing a game of basketball. Brian tells Jake that he spoke with their old friend Anna who they haven’t heard from in many years. Both are excited to learn that she is moving back to New York.

Dialog

1. Study - Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Jake

Brian

Jake: I gotta quit playing those guys from Jewish Theological Seminary. It really lowers the bar. Ooh, ah. Can I just say ‘Oy!’

Brian: Amen to your ‘Oy!’

Jake: What happened to our youth?

Brian: I’m telling you, it ended at 30 pal. Hey speaking of ‘our youth’ I forgot to tell you something.

Jake: What?

Brian: Guess who called me?

Jake: Who?

Brian: ‘K. Think about who is the coolest woman you and I have ever known.

Jake: That’s eay. Anna Riley. Eighth Grade. No question.

Brian: You got it.

Jake: What? She called you?

Brian: Yeah. Totally out of the blue.

Jake: Why?

Brian: ‘Cause she’s coming to New York, uh, for work and she wanted to get together with us. She just looked me up.

Jake: Yeah. Anna Riley. What is she doing now?

Brian: Sh-She’s, like, analyzing synergies or synergizing analogies ..or something. I couldn’t follow it. She’s like this very high-powered business…you know…

Jake: Woman?

Brian: Woman. Yes, thank you.

Jake: Wow! And you told her about us?

Brian: Yeah. She flipped, in a-in a good way. You know, I mean, she laughed for about 10 minutes, but she was excited.

Jake: Man, that is so cool!

Brian: I know.

Jake: I wonder why she called you.

Brian: What do you mean?

Jake: No, I mean. She called you.

Brian: What are you in the eighth grade still?

Jake: What? That’s a legitamate question. I jus-I mean, we’re both listed.

Brian: ‘Finn’ before ‘Schram’ OK? You’re ridiculous.

Jake: Good point. Alphabetical.

Lesson MP3

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Discussion

This scene is pretty funny because after being all excited Jake immediately gets jealous that Anna decided to call Brian instead of him. Brian points out that she probably chose him first because his last name (Finn) is listed in the phone book before Jake’s (Schram). It’s pretty typical of how most guys get when a girl is onvolved. I really liked this movie. It has great dialogue and Stiller and Norton always have good, well-developed characters. The interaction between everyone is very entertaining. So, I give it a 8 out of 10. From the front row, Zach