 

ARTS&LIFE
FILM REVIEW

W

hat is Jewish humor? First 
of all, it’s a wonder there 
is such a genre given the 
strife of Jewish history. But humor is 
a Jewish tradition, especially on the 
screen. Mel Brooks, Woody Allen 
and the Marx Brothers all come to 
mind.
Of course, finding humor in strife 
has been a path to Jewish survival. 
My challenge is finding humor in 
Between the Temples, written and 
directed by Nathan Silver. It’s billed 
as a comedy and the laughs in the 
movie theater were undeniable. But 
there were few laughs from me or my 
best friend, attorney Jamie Schlaff 
(who went to the movie with me and 
panned it afterward).
Between the Temples is the story of 
Ben Gottlieb (Jason Schwartzman), a 
cantor at Temple Sinai who had in the 
past year lost his wife. Though a can-
tor, Ben is having a crisis in faith. He’s 
too young to call it a mid-life crisis, 
but it is a crisis just the same. He even 
goes into a church to discuss his crisis 
in faith with a Catholic priest.
But Ben’s music teacher from 
grade school, Carla O’Connor (Carol 
Kane), enters his life and the story 
gets more complicated. Carla is wid-
owed and past middle age. She tends 
to Ben after he gets into a bar fight (a 
rather unlikely incident in the life of 
a cantor). The two reintroduce each 
other and get reacquainted.
Ben also acts as the instructor for 
bar mitzvah and bat mitzvah stu-
dents at the temple. Out of nowhere, 
Carla appears in the classroom and 
in the twilight of life (her precise 
age is not given) wants to have her 
bat mitzvah. She reveals to Ben that 
she is half Jewish (her maiden name 
is Kessler) and that she was raised 
without religion as her parents were 
card-carrying communists.

Whereas Ben is questioning his 
faith, this elderly woman finds lack 
of religion is a void in her life. And 
this type of dichotomy is a constant 
theme of the movie.
Even before Ben meets Carla 
again, his life is already complicated. 
His mother is in a same-sex mar-
riage with a Filipino woman who is 
a Jewish convert. Ben and the two 

women all belong to the temple, a 
hyper-tolerant synagogue presided 
over by Rabbi Bruce (Rober Smigel). 
And there is also the rabbi’s daugh-
ter, Gabby (Madeline Weinstein), 
whom the rabbi and the two mothers 
are forcing upon Ben.
Also in the picture is Carla’s son, 
Nat O’Connor (Matthew Shear), 
who resents his mother’s relationship 

with Ben and requests that Ben leave 
when they are out to dinner with 
Nat’s family. We see a similar dynam-
ic later in the movie when Carla has 
dinner with Ben’s family (the night 
before her bat mitzvah). Just as Ben 
is made unwelcome when having 
dinner with Carla’s family, Carla is 
awkward having dinner with Ben’s 
family and is forced to leave.
And why is Carla awkward? It 
isn’t her doing. Ben, a bit inebriated, 
announces at the dinner table that 
he is in love with Carla, much to the 
chagrin of the rabbi and Ben’s step-
mother.
More dichotomy. Neither Ben nor 
Carla are extended warm welcomes 
when dining with each other’s fam-
ilies. And though Ben’s mother and 
stepmother expect acceptance of 
their unconventional love, the step-
mother and the rabbi are outraged at 
Ben’s show of unconventional love.
It’s important to call the circum-
stances unconventional (as opposed 
to dysfunctional). Between the 
Temples succeeds in presenting the 
tolerant devolve into intolerance.
Is it a good movie? Hard to say. Is 
it funny? Not really. And it’s not so 
much enjoyable as it is interesting. 
We are left wondering whether Ben’s 
love for Carla is reciprocal. But Ben 
implies at dinner with his family, 
when professing his love for Carla, 
that he has recovered at least a modi-
cum of faith.
The fairest assessment of Between 
the Temples is that, whereas it’s an 
interesting movie, the story is by no 
means comfortable. If interest can 
overcome discomfort, you might like 
the movie. 
 

John O’Neill is an Allen Park freelance writer. 

He contributes frequent essays and reviews to 

MediaNews Group..

IMDB

Between the Temples 
Offers More Trauma than Laughs

JOHN O’NEILL SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS.

40 | SEPTEMBER 5 • 2024 
J
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