With a 1970s aesthetic and comedy tone, “Between the Temples” is a sharply witty and heartwarming portrait of suffering, faith, and relationships, starring Jason Schwartzman and Carol Kane, directed by Nathan Silver.
Ben Gottlieb (Jason Schwartzman) is a cantor who’s lost his voice, his faith, and his purpose following the sudden death of his novelist wife. His obtuse rabbi (Robert Smigel), his doting mother (Caroline Aaron) and his overeager stepmother (Dolly de Leon) are all very ready for him to snap out of it, maybe date a little, and re-engage with his community. But Ben, beset on all sides by miseries, large and small, is not convinced that his mothers’ sneak-attack blind dates (while they hover nearby) is the way forward.
After fleeing Shabbat services and re-listening to his dead wife’s voice messages, he half-heartedly attempts to throw himself under a semi-truck. The truck driver instead drops him off at a bar where drunk on mudslides, Ben confronts a loudmouth who knocks him flat.
Carla (Carol Kane) helps him to his feet and gets him a proper drink. They discover they once knew each other: Carla was Ben’s music teacher in elementary school. Learning of his profession, Carla starts to pursue Ben for bat mitzvah lessons. He refuses. She refuses his refusal and strongarms him into teaching her.
Where all the authority figures and institutions seem to leave Ben cold, it’s Carla who gives Ben a much-needed kick in the butt, inspiring him to reconnect with humanity while, simultaneously, he leads her to reconnect with her faith.
“Schwartzman and Kane are so wonderful. A wildly madcap romp.” — Rodrigo Perez, The Playlist
“Raucous and tender. A rough-and-tumble farce.” — Guy Lodge, Variety
“Sublime. Scintillating cleverness. A splendid cast.” — Richard Brody, The New Yorker