Between The Temples (15)

Ben is supposed to be the cantor at his local synagogue in New York, leading the congregation in song and prayer under Rabbi Bruce. Unfortunately, since the death of his wife, Ben has hit a psychological roadblock and cannot comfortably raise his voice in exultation. He is sparked back to life by his former primary school music teacher, Carla O'Connor. She was denied her bat mitzvah as a child by Russian communist parents and hopes Ben will teach her readings from the Torah.

LondonNet Film Review

Between The Temples (15) Film Review from LondonNet

It’s OK to be loud, and to be sloppy. So says grief-stricken 40-something Ben Gottlieb (Jason Schwartzman), the ambling, self-destructive hero of director Nathan Silver’s gently paced comedy drama as he struggles to reconnect with humanity in the aftermath of his novelist wife’s death. In a morbidly amusing early scene, Ben lies down in the middle of a busy road and calmly waits for an oncoming truck to run him over. When the driver hits the brakes in good time, Ben urges the vehicle to “keep going” and fatally crush him into the asphalt…

Co-written by Silver and C Mason Wells, Between The Temples charts Ben’s haphazard and appealingly sloppy journey to self-healing in the company of his former music teacher, played with scene-stealing vibrancy by Carol Kane. She is impeccably matched with Schwartzman and the two actors jive sweetly in warm, tender and wryly amusing scenes like when Ben explains that he is a cantor at his synagogue and former educator Ms O’Connor mishears and enthusiastically responds: “That’s so interesting because I’m an Aquarius!” Stars certainly align with these central roles – two people in transitional phases of their lives, both widowed and dealing with trauma, who draw strength from each other as they traipse along the same rocky path.

Ben (Schwartzman) is supposed to be the cantor at his local synagogue in New York, leading the congregation in song and prayer under Rabbi Bruce (Robert Smigel) and fulfilling his remit to get “Jews in the pews”. Unfortunately, since the death of his wife, Ben has hit a psychological roadblock and cannot comfortably raise his voice in exultation. He wallows in grief and self-loathing under the roof of his two mothers, Meira (Caroline Aaron) and Judith (Dolly De Leon).

They try to coax him out of a rut while the rabbi matchmakes Ben with his actress daughter Gabby (Madeline Weinstein) in the hope that a new romance might rekindle the cantor’s lust for life. That spark is provided, unexpectedly, by Ben’s primary school music teacher, Carla O’Connor (Kane). She was denied her bat mitzvah as a child by Russian communist parents and hopes Ben will teach her readings from the Torah. Ben becomes joyfully fixated on Carla and devotes all his time to helping her prepare for the coming-of-age ceremony.

Between The Temples relies on a classic screwball comedy trope: unleashing an emotional whirlwind on an uptight, guarded character, who simply needs to let go. Schwartzman allows himself to unravel on screen with occasionally hilarious consequences while Kane fizzes in every scene. Screen chemistry between the pair surprises and delights like a mouthful of popping candy. Silver quietly observes without manipulating our emotions or his characters’ delicately intertwined fates.

– Sarah Lee