Acts of Faith

Dismally predictable, humorless and heavy-handed, Segal's latest melodramatic tale (after Doctors ) is potboiling at its most banal. Daniel Luria is the heir apparent to the Brooklyn-based Silczer dynasty of rabbis. After Timothy Hogan (an ``orphan'' with two living parents) breaks the Lurias' window, Rabbi Luria hires him to turn out the lights on Sabbath nights. When the rabbi sees his daughter Deborah and Timothy poised for a forbidden embrace, he banishes Deborah to Jerusalem. Timothy, a rising star en route to Catholic priesthood, eventually encounters Deborah on her kibbutz; they consummate their relationship, despite Timothy's vows of celibacy. Meanwhile, in rabbinical school, Daniel finds doubt as well as lust in his heart; his lover leaves him, but not without some hot stock tips. A millionaire (if still unhappy), Daniel decides against religious life, to his father's profound discontent. Timothy encounters liberation theology in Brazil, has an epiphany, turns his back on Church hierarchy and acknowledges love. Daniel, who has rejoined his faith on less Orthodox terms, meets the woman of his dreams, and also finds he can follow in his father's footsteps. Segal makes even the interesting details and dilemmas of religious lives seem superficial. 250,000 first printing; $150,000 ad/promo . (Apr.)