Tropic Sprockets / Between the Temples

By Ian Brockway

Nathan Silver (Thirst Street) directs “Between the Temples” an amiable affectionate film in the mode of Woody Allen and Noah Baumbach. [Showtimes and trailer at Tropiccinema.com] The film has a nostalgic feel that echoes the films of the 1970s. It is authentic, warm, and engaging.

Ben (Jason Schwartzman) is a synagogue cantor psychologically confined by his two mothers after the death of his wife. He lives with his mother and stepmother in a small, cramped room. One day at synagogue he recites the Torah and chokes, becoming so flustered he exits the ceremony. He promptly goes to a bar and runs into a group of patrons making fun of his depressed condition. Ben confronts the main offender who promptly throttles him. Ben’s former music teacher Mrs. O’Connor (Carol Kane) helps him off the floor. Ben is shy, not having positive memories of his school days.

Ben finds Mrs. O’Connor quirky and welcoming and the two develop a rapport. Ben does not tell his mothers about his platonic yet intimate relationship with his teacher for fear of criticism.

Mrs. O’Connor whose name is Carla tells Ben that she wants to reaffirm her Judaism. Raise in communism she was never able to recognize herself as a Jewish woman. Carla wants Ben to oversee her bat mitzvah.

Ben’s mothers set him up with a secret online date, Gabby (Madeline Weinstein). She is attracted to his intimidated manner and the fact that his deceased wife left him salacious, explicit voicemails.

Jason Schwartzman is excellent, and this is his best role to date. The narrative builds in gradual detail and it is absolutely honest without excess or melodrama. While the film bears notes of “The Graduate“ and “Harold & Maude” it is completely Nathan Silver’s own with its softness, subtlety and sharp, pointed details.

Carol Kane is also perfect. Though her character is colorful and quirky, she is no cartoon. Carla is often quiet and soft; she is a friend of life’s melancholy and at peace with solitude.

Rather than high drama, Silver aims for telling minutia: a laugh, an anguished face, or the sight of crazed blonde curls. Only at a fateful dinner party does the film take a threatening turn, displaying the hectic rhythm of “Annie Hall” when Ben is incessantly chastised and questioned by his mothers and Rabbi Bruce (Robert Smigel) at the table.

This film illustrates that romance has no boundaries and that coming-of-age stories have no age limit.

Write Ian at [email protected]

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