from the series Movie Corner…
4.5/5 Stars
Comedy/Drama/ Romance
Sony Pictures Classics
By HOWARD MCQUITTER II
A quadragenarian cantor at a synagogue is burdened with sadness and even suicidal tendencies after his wife’s death. (Her cause of death is revealed later in the film.) His name is Ben Gottlieb (Jason Schwartzman) and he lives in the basement of his mother’s (Caroline Aaron) house along with her partner Judith (Dolly De Leon). Both his mother Meira Gottlieb and Judith are hoping Ben moves out of their house soon. Ben ‘s depression is not only from his wife’s death but he has lost his singing voice.
What happens next for Ben is serendipitous when he meets Carla Kessler (Carol Kane) at a bar. A patron has just punched Ben for his abrasive behavior. She lends a hand to Ben which in turn spawns a friendship. She’s much older than him which doesn’t seem to matter to him. Carla realizes she’s seeing a man in deep grief and in a crisis of his faith.
At first or second glance Between the Temples seems like the film could have been directed by Richard Linklater – Dazed and Confused (1993), Boyhood (2014) or Wes Anderson – Rushmore (1998) and The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014). No, the director is Nathan Silver, an American independent filmmaker out of New York City, with films like The Blind (2009), Uncertain Terms (2014) and The Great Pretender (2018).
Carla, also a widow, shows up at his synagogue where Ben is preparing a class of pre- teen boys and girls for their bar and bat mitzvahs. She’s determined to have her bat mitzvah – something she was deprived of as a girl. She wants Ben to be her teacher for the bat mitzvah and who at first indicates a lack of enthusiasm for the task. However, that will change as the two connect with Hebrew study and drinking mushroom tea.
The relationship between two widowed people is reminiscent of the two lonely hearts in Hal Ashby’s 1971 film Harold and Maude. When Ben finds the courage to invite Carla to dinner to meet his mom and her lover, Judith thinks things go well until they don’t. Some embarrassing revelations at the dinner table upset the gathering.
Between the Temples
Cast: Jason Schwartzman (Ben Gottlieb), Carol Kane (Carla Kessler), Caroline Aaron (Meira Gottlieb), Dolly De Leon (Judith Gottlieb), Madeleine Weinstein (Gabby/Ruth) , Jacob Morrell (Young Ben), Julia Walsh (Twin #1), Brittany Walsh (Twin # 2), Robert Smigel (Rabbi Bruce), Matthew Shear (Nat), Lindsay Burdge (Darcy), Diane Lanyi (Cindy), Jason Grisell (Priest).
Director: Nathan Silver.
Screenplay: Nathan Silver and C. Mason Wells.
Cinematography: Sean Price
Running time: 101 minutes. (R)
Meira and Judith would much rather have Ben meet a nice Jewish girl, someone like Gabby (Madeleine Weinstein), the daughter of their rabbi (Robert Smigel), but he tends to spend more time with Carla.
Nathan Silver’s Between the Temples is quite brilliant at blending sober humor with thoughtful melancholic impulses. What audiences will see in this film is serendipity, reflection and reconciliation.
Howard McQuitter II is a longtime movie critic. He has been reviewing movies for the alley since 2002.
