Jason Schwartzman takes the lead in an indie that recalls Woody Allen, 1990s
Between the Temples is a quirky 2024 indie movie about a cantor at a Jewish synagogue (played by Jason Schwartzman of Rushmore fame) whose alcoholic author wife has died. He has not adjusted well and has lost the ability—or maybe just the will—to sing, but luckily the rabbi (Robert Smigel, writer of the 101 cartoon shorts called TV Funhouse from Saturday Night Live) is very flexible and understanding. His troubled daughter (a very available Madeline Weinstein) has a striking resemblance to the cantor’s deceased wife. She has the hots for the cantor but the cantor is distracted by his former art teacher (Carol Kane), who has her own litany of problems and wants to be bat mitzvahed as an adult.
Got all that? Well, I kind of just spoiler-ed it for you, because that’s pretty much the whole story. You’ll probably either be mildly intrigued and amused by the whole thing or not make it through all the way. The pay-off at the end isn’t really worth the trouble, but the actors do a good job with a thin script. Caroline Aaron is perfect as one of the cantor’s mothers—the one who is understanding of his troubled current self (his other mother is not so understanding). Of course I may be a little biased because Aaron is my wife’s cousin and super cool in real life.
It seems rare to catch Schwartzman outside a Wes Anderson film, although of course he’s been in tons of things not to mention his producing work and his music making in the band Phantom Planet. This is a nice vehicle for him, as he fits the profile of a quirky, moden-day, neurotic Woody Allen-type who can effortlessly spit stream-of-consciousness dialogue. Although the movie ultimately doesn’t work, it is the kind of weird indie that explores a snippet of real life, was so prominent in the 1990s, and something we need a lot more of these days.
It actually seems like the kind of film that would, at least for me, benefit from multiple watchings. Also, speaking as a non-Jewish person, it is the kind of story that would have been good for me (and obviously many many others) to see when I was much younger and had no clue about Judaism.
3 out of 5 stars