Nathan Silver, in his quirky comedy, Between the Temples, presents viewers with the oddest of couples: a cantor and a music teacher old enough to be his mother. Normally, an age difference on this scale might feel creepy, but here it feels virtually normal.
Scheduled to open in theaters in Canada on August 23, this appealing movie unfolds in a bleak town in New York and brings together two people, a widower and a widow, who have not seen each other in decades.
Ben Gottlieb (Jason Schwartzman), a cantor at Temple Sinai, is coping with a personal crisis connected with the recent death of his wife. Still in mourning, he now lives with his mother, Judith (Dolly De Leon), a Filipina convert to Judaism who thinks he should consult a therapist. He agrees, but the treatment he receives is of no real value.
When he returns to his job at the synagogue, he falters. Dishevelled in appearance, he cannot perform in front of the congregants, having lost his cantorial voice. Being suicidal, he lies in the middle of a busy road, waiting for a vehicle to run him over. Then, at a bar, he gets into a fist fight with a stranger. Something is obviously amiss.
Having watched the spectacle, Carla O’Connor (Carol Kane) gives Ben a helping hand and engages him in conversation.
Their exchange is unusual.
Carla: “You’re Jewish, right?”
Ben: “How did you know?”
Carla: “It was a joke.”
Having been put at ease by Carla, Ben tells her he’s a cantor. Then, much to his astonishment, he learns that she was his music teacher back when he was a boy. They’re from different generations, but they click.
When they meet again, Carla confesses she’s Jewish and reveals her maiden name was Kessler. She wants to have a Bat Mitzvah, the female version of a Bar Mitzvah, and asks Ben if he can help. He’s not receptive, but Rabbi Bruce (Robert Smigel) is all for it. Later, Ben changes his mind, strengthening his growing bond with Carla.
In a scene suggestive of the angst that grips Ben, he wanders into a church and speaks to a priest about heaven and hell. These concepts are absent in Judaism, but Jews can relate to New York City, he jokes, causing the priest to crack a smile.
When Ben and Carla get together for a third time, they both admit they were “red diaper” babies, or the children of communists. Is this an allusion to Silver’s own background?
By now, Ben and Carla have formed a strong relationship. Their friendship puzzles and annoys Carla’s adult son, but when Ben informs him he is helping his mother learn her Bat Mitzvah lines, he claims she is not really Jewish.
At this point, Ben is introduced to the rabbi’s eligible daughter, Gabby (Madeline Weinstein), an attractive woman who turns out to be a seductress. Despite her feminine charms, Ben is far more attached to Carla than Gabby, a preference that shocks Ben’s mother and the rabbi.
Judging by Kane’s modulated performance, one can understand why Ben would be more enamored with Carla. Correspondingly, one can appreciate why Carla is attracted to Ben, whom Schwartzman portrays with subtle restraint.
The romance between them, though surprising at first, is not implausible in this highly unusual and self-assured movie.