“I’m hangin’…” Ben (Jason Schwartzman) tells the rabbi (Robert Smigel) at Temple Sinai where he’s a cantor in “Between the Temples,” leaving an uncomfortably long pause before adding “…in there” after being asked about how things are going. He’s returned after a leave of absence, taking some time off after the unexpected death of his wife Ruth, and every interaction has become fraught with tension, unsure what’ll set him off or how even to deal with people. If someone had said Nathan Silver’s latest comedy was some unearthed gem from the early 1970s, perhaps directed by Paul Mazursky or Milos Forman, you’d be inclined to believe them as anxiety seems laced into the very fabric of the film, with the frisson of grain cinematographer Sean Price Williams deploys as if to make the film sweat and editor John Magary’s brilliant use of a variety of camera zooms and abrupt cuts to make every scene feel as if it’s on the verge of eruption. (Fans of Magary’s wildly underappreciated directorial debut “The Mend” will surely rejoice with its zesty pacing.) However, it is a coming out party for Silver, who finds a unique and completely disarming love story to tell after years of deeply unsettling audiences.
It’s clear that despite being set largely in a place of worship, the director still thinks there’s nothing sacred as he watches Ben leave a Shabbat service he could once do in his sleep after barely being able to string sentences together for a local bar where he finds he doesn’t even need alcohol to get knocked out, belted by a local he’s tired of listening to talk. When he arises, it’s in the care of Carla (Carol Kane), who was at the pub to enjoy karaoke night and the two realize she once was his music teacher in grade school. After coming to, she’s inclined to ask if he can teach her something, having a long deferred dream of receiving her Bat Mitzvah, something her parents hardly wanted for her despite being of Jewish heritage. Silver and co-writer C. Mason Wells create a clever intersection of events when everyone around Ben is eager to see him with a new partner, from his mother (Caroline Aaron) and her partner (Dolly De Leon) to Rabbi Bruce, who thinks he might be a match for his daughter Gabby (Madeline Weinstein), who was recently stood up at the altar, but without the pressures of dating, Ben can appreciate that nothing seems forced with Carla as they start to forge a real connection studying the Torah together.
If religion is where you find it, “Between the Temples” will make you a believer as it’s easy to get swept up at first in Ben’s paranoia and eventually easing into a place where he feels comfortable in his own skin. No small amount of credit is due to Schwartzman, who not only now has the gravitas to go with his keen comic timing to play someone who’s loved and lost, but reminds of how many directors he’s helped take their work to another level from Alex Ross Perry (“Listen Up Philip”) to Patrick Brice (“The Overnight”) without sacrificing their distinctive voice and the comedy crackles with energy as Silver is able to stage the chaotic ensemble scenes that were an early signature of films such as “Uncertain Terms” and “Stinking Heaven” with a murderer’s row of actors he’s never had access to before. The director doesn’t waste the opportunity, allowing for a truly regal turn from Kane, whose kvetchy charms have never been more endearing, and making one want to follow everyone in the cast out the door into their own movies when creating such rich characters. “Between the Temples” may start out with people getting on Ben’s nerves, but ends up touching all the right ones.
“Between the Temples” will screen again at the Sundance Film Festival on January 23rd at 6 pm at the Rose Wagner Center in Salt Lake City and January 24th at the Ray Theatre at 3:30 pm in Park City.