Movie Review: ‘Between the Temples’ Is a Perfectly Weird Retro Indie Comedy

There are some stories that only a small sector of the population will fully relate to. Nathan Silver’s Between the Temples is the newest movie like that. Like Joel & Ethan Coen’s A Serious Man (2009), the film is entirely set in the Jewish community and will resonate most with that group of people.

But it’s also very relatable by general neurotics, such as a gentile like myself. I went into Between the Temples primarily because I like Jason Schwartzman and Carol Kane as actors and left pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed Silver’s picture.

In modern day New York, Ben Gottlieb (Schwartzman) has become a trainwreck since the sudden death of his wife and is living back home with his mom, Meira (Caroline Aaron) and her wife, Judith (Dolly de Leon). When he’s not sulking and obsessing over his issues, Ben is a cantor at the local temple, where he is also struggling creatively and socially.

Both his family and the Rabbi, Bruce (Robert Smigel), just suggest that he settle down again with another woman and try to set him up on dates. But instead, Ben inadvertently ends up sparking a unique friendship with his childhood music teacher, Carla Kessler (Kane), who also wants to get a belated Bat Mitzvah.

Madeline Weinstein co-stars as Rabbi Bruce’s daughter, Gabby, who begins a courtship with Ben and appears as his deceased wife Ruth in quick snapshots. Between the Temples has naturally been getting comparisons to Hal Ashby’s classic Harold & Maude (1971), which has a similar premise, but with an 18-year-old boy instead of a 40-year-old widow. It might not be coincidence Ben is also the name of the protagonist in Mike Nichols’ The Graduate (1967).

But what the new feature really reminds me of is Woody Allen’s early hits from the 1970s and 1980s. The awkward eccentrics and second-hand embarrassment Schwartzman exudes is so reminiscent of the Woody persona from back then, as well as the relationship problems and dysfunctional family history. There’s also heavy use of retro effects like zooms, dollies, split screen and split-diopter.

Kane herself had a supporting role in Allen’s Annie Hall (1977) and is very appropriately cast here as a quirky female lead who could have very easily resulted as a “manic pixie old lady” in the wrong hands. The conclusion of Temples could come off as derivative of Harold & Maude’s ending, but the rest of the film makes up for it.

Between the Temples is really a movie that will be fully appreciated by fans with a higher level of neurosis, with more average viewers probably finding most of the behavior and antics with the characters as cringe-worthy or too bizarre. But as someone who loves organically weird, indie comedies, it completely worked for me.