The Office meets Wes Anderson meets Judaism is as fitting a way as any to describe director Nathan Silver’s ninth feature film.
Between the Temples picks up mid conversation, with Ben Gottlieb (Jason Schwarzman) accepting the suggestion from his mother (Caroline Aaron) and stepmother (Dolly De Leon) that he should see a doctor; he should, he agrees. The doorbell rings to alert the family to the arrival of such a doctor… but not the kind you’re thinking of.
The audience learns that Ben’s Moms are attempting to set him up with a Jewish girl following the loss of his wife, which he has taken in comically bad fashion. In the time since he has moved back into his moms’ basement, Ben has lost his voice – a tool which is imperative to his work as a cantor at the local synagogue.
However, after a few too many mudslides at the a local dive bar (vodka, coffee liqueur, Irish cream, heavy cream—the quintessential boozy milkshake), Ben’s life is thrown upside down when he is reacquainted with his old high school music teacher Carla Kessler (Carol Kane). The two develop an unlikely bond as Carla seeks Ben’s help in the hopes of experiencing a long overdue Bat Mitzvah, something she never received as a little girl due to her Russian communist parents.
Between the Temples is certainly unorthodox: the film operates on its own level, and many sequences are even cringe-inducing. Ben is the straight man among a collection of screwball characters, but there is heart amidst the chaos; a poignance in Jason Schwartzman’s shrug as he shuffles around “Upper State New York”.
Long time collaborator of Nathan Silver, Sean Prince Williams conducts the jumpy and rhythmic cinematography to a perfect beat. Robert Smigle adds to the film’s personality, pulling off a hilarious turn as the morally ambiguous Rabbi Bruce. There is an off-kilter charm to Between the Temples that makes this coming-of-middle-age story well worth a watch.