1 star
There is a lovely moment in Between the Temples when a woman, convinced that the man she is speaking to isn’t listening to her, asks him to repeat what she just said. And he does—not just in general terms but in a precise way that not only shows he was listening but really paying attention.
It’s beautiful.
So, how does the writer/director Nathan Silver follow such a romantic scene? With a disgusting scene of the pair eating Juicy Lucys (hamburgers stuffed with cheese), complete with plenty of close-ups of them chewing with their mouths open as they moan passionately about what a good burger it is. And for dessert? The man, a kosher Jew, suddenly realizes he’s eating meat and dairy together, a combination that goes against the strict dietary standards of traditional Jewish law. So we get to watch him spit it out onto his plate.
So much for romance.
In the film, to quote the official studio press release, a cantor (Jason Schwartzman), in a crisis of faith, finds his world turned upside down when his former grade school music teacher (Carol Kane) re-enters his life as his new adult bat mitzvah student. The cantor, Ben Gottlieb, is in crisis mode because about a year ago, his wife slipped on an icy sidewalk, cracked her skull, and died. Along with being depressed over the loss, Ben has lost his voice, which, given his chosen profession as a trained vocalist and member of the clergy who leads the congregation in song and prayer, only adds to his distress. Ben goes out drinking one night, gets into a fight, and loses badly. His old music teacher, Carla Kessler, sees him on the floor, scoops him up, and brings him home.
Thus, they start their May-December romance. Or at least that’s what the script calls for. Unfortunately, except for that previously mentioned scene about listening, Schwartzman, 44, and Kane, 72, have no screen chemistry in the film as friends or potential lovers. They talk at each other instead of with each other in voices that quickly become more annoying than fingernails on a chalkboard.
We witness Ben’s chaotic life outside this relationship, from his quirky relationship with his boss, Rabbi Bruce (Robert Smigel), to his claustrophobic life at home with his two moms (Caroline Aaron and Dolly De Delon). We rarely see any of Carla’s except for a visit from her son, Nat, which turns potentially ugly when, at a family meal in a restaurant, he starts questioning what Ben is doing, sleeping over at his mother’s house and wearing Nat’s pajamas. It’s an unpleasant scene to sit through, and because it goes nowhere in the rest of the story, it alienates the audience.
