Film: “Between the Temples” starring Jason Schwartzman

The trailer looked promising. The reviews were stellar, including one that compared the film to “Goodbye Columbus.” It was a favorite at Sundance last January.

Then why is Nathan Silver’s “Between the Temples” such a disappointment?

The story did seem intriguing. Ben (Jason Schwartzman, who happens to be Francis Ford Coppola’s nephew), is a cantor in an upstate New York synagogue. He’s mourning his wife, whom he describes as an “alcoholic novelist” who died from slipping on a patch of ice. Ben is so despondent, he find himself unable to sing, which is not good for someone who makes his living as a cantor.

One night, sad sack Ben lies down in the middle of a highway and urges a truck driver to run him over. The trucker instead gives him a lift to a nearby bar, where he gets his lights punched out.

Can anything go right for Ben? Enter Carla O’Connor (Carol Kane), a kind older woman who is doing karaoke at the bar. She comes to his aid and takes him back to her modest shack to dress his wounds. Carla, a former music teacher, soon realizes “Little Bennie” was one of her more talented middle-school students.

When she learns he’s involved with the temple, Carla who was born to non-observant Jewish parents announces she wants to be bat mitzvah’d and have Ben be her instructor. Reluctant at first, he gives in. As does the rabbi (Robert Smigel) who is confused. Why? Carla is in her 70s.

A non-sexual relationship develops between the two even though Carla is about 35 years older than Ben. Ben’s lesbian moms (Carolyn Aaron and Dolly De Leon), however, have other plans for their mopey son, including setting him up on J-Dates. They also wouldn’t mind his dating the rabbi’s pretty single daughter (Madeline Weinstein).

My overall impression here is “cringe.” Silver and his co-writer C. Mason Wells may be going for a “Harold and Maude” vibe but if so, I missed it completely. Further, Ben is so unappealing that he defines “swipe left.” And the so-called jokes—including the one about having a Holocaust bake sale—don’t land.

The only actor who acquits herself with any dignity is Kane, who some may remember from the TV show “Taxi” and the movie “Hester Street.” That’s probably because she’s playing someone she knows.

Apparently Silver has previously made 18 small movies but you would be hard pressed to tell if he’s learned much. The messy closeups, the odd angles and the overabundance of quick cuts just seem indulgent.

The NY Times review called the film “consistently funny.” Umm…given the NYT’s cluelessness on other matters over the past few months, this seems totally in character.

Interesting concept? Yes. Bad execution? Big yes. I suggest that when this movie streams, you give it a chance. But don’t be surprised if you quickly reach for the remote.

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