Between the Temples: Gentle Portrait of Grief Yields Sincere if Awkward Laughs

By Karen Gordon

Rating: B

There is a gentle, sad, sweet core to Between the Temples, though American indie director Nathan Silver seems determined to discourage any feelings of sentimentality in a movie that could easily have tipped in that direction.

Silver, who cowrote the script with frequent collaborator writer C. Mason Wells, has pitched Between the Temples as a comedy, but one that, from scene to scene, leans into the most awkward moments of any particular interaction.

That business of making things uncomfortable is a comedic trope, particularly with screwball comedies, and the independent comedies of the early 70s, both of which Silver and Wells say inspired them here.

But in this film, it’s so much the norm that awkward becomes the tone of the film, which means it becomes a bit predictable. And Silver adds to that by keeping the camera moving and shooting his characters in close-ups, sometimes uncomfortably so.

That’s not to say the movie isn’t affecting. Silver’s choices might keep us off-base at times, but then everyone in this film is a bit of a character and seems to be off-base to one degree or another.

The film centres around Ben Gottlieb (Jason Schwartzman), a cantor at a local synagogue. Ben is understandably not doing well. It’s coming up on a year since his wife, a successful novelist, died suddenly in an accident.

From the outside, Ben often looks calm. But when someone tries to engage him, he reacts with a deer-in-the-headlights look. Even before we know what has happened to him, we get the sense that he’s emotionally frozen. And when we do find out, it seems that he’s still in shock.

It's not that he lacks for empathy or support. He has moved back in with his mother Meira (Caroline Aaron) and her wife, his stepmother, Judith (Dolly de Leon) who both adore him. His boss, Rabbi Bruce (Robert Smigel) has taken on Ben’s cantor duties during services, until Ben feels like he can resume.

But as the anniversary of his wife’s death approaches, his mom and the Rabbi want him to get back into life, which means dating again. And since he seems frozen and confused, they all get hands on. Judith creates a Jdate profile for Ben while looking for young women she thinks might be right for him. Rabbi Bruce thinks his daughter Gabby (Madeline Weinstein) — returning from New York and also recovering from hard times — would be a perfect match.

In the midst of this, Ben has a chance meeting with Carla O’Connor (Carol Kane), his former music teacher. Carla, 70, is widowed and recently forced into retirement.

With time to reflect, she has decided she wants to connect with her Jewish heritage by having a Bat Mitzvah. That’s normally something that happens at the age of 13, but it’s not unheard of for an adult. Since Ben teaches the Bar and Bat Mitzvah classes, she becomes his student.

To Ben, Carla — who is outside of the bubble of what his life has become since the death of his wife — is intriguing. The two become friends, and a subtle shift happens for each of them.

Schwartzman is pitch-perfect for the role, which is absolutely key in a film like this. In a way, he has carved out a niche for himself playing characters who say little, but seem to be holding back contradictory feelings.

Ben always seems like he's holding himself back from getting up and running away from whatever is in front of him. There’s a wariness and unease to him. The grief and shock of losing his wife seems to have sent him deep inside of himself, and for a while we wonder whether he has gone in too deep to ever come out.

Silver doesn’t give us many full scenes. With tight shots and his technique of keeping the camera moving in a documentary style, he doesn’t give us a full picture of most of the characters. We see enough to know that there’s love and affection in Ben’s world, and a sense of family.

But like most of us, the people in Ben’s extended family all have their own worries, quirks, and opinions, and everyone reacts to him out of love and concern, but also from their own particular point of view. It’s simultaneously loving and claustrophobic.

Between the Temples is primarily about Ben and how, without knowing how or where to look, he finds a slender lifeline that pulls him if not back into life, at least more towards it. But what Silver seems to be most interested in is that whatever Ben is going through — and wherever he ends up — feels true and honest, both to Ben and to us.

Between the Temples. Directed by Nathan Silver, written by Nathan Silver and C. Mason Wells. Starring Jason Schwartzman, Carol Kane, Madeline Weinstein, Caroline Aaron, Dolly De Leon, and Robert Smigel. In theatres August 23.