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Between The Temples is one of those films where I knew very little about it before watching it, but with 20 screens at my local Odeon, there’s often a bit of space for indie films, and this one had just a single screening on each day.
It’s been a year since Ben Gottlieb’s (Jason Schwartzman – Asteroid City) wife, Ruth, passed away, and his life is falling apart in many ways, such as his position in the church of cantor, performing the Kabbalat Shabbat service, where, for some unknown reason, his voice isn’t doing what’s required, and he just walks out.
Life can deal many random hands, and for midlife-crisis-waiting-to-happen Ben, he chances across Carla O’Connor (Carol Kane – Migration 3D), his old music teacher from school, who tells him she’s decided she wants a bat mitzvah, despite never having one when she was young.
Meanwhile, his mum decides to set him up with the Rabbi’s daughter, Gabby (Madeline Weinstein), who looks very similar to his late wife. Plus, Ben’s challenging his religious beliefs. He doesn’t believe in Heaven or Hell, observing “I’m just left with Upstate New York(!)”
Plus, there’s a scene where too much information was the order of the day, since he can’t eat a cheeseburger when he finds out what he’s putting in his mouth, because the combination of dairy and meat means it’s not kosher.
There’s also the minutae of life, such as our lead discovering out that there’s 12,000 people in the country with the same name as him, and it’s also quite a lot weird when he plays back his late wife’s voice messages, resulting in Gabby getting turned on by their sexual nature!
For a comedy/drama, there’s nothing really laugh-out loud in Between The Temples, but it is amusing enough to sustain the running time, although it could’ve been cut down to around 95-100 minutes, rather than heading for the two-hour mark. It wasn’t for everyone, though, as two old women in the audience started talking and, ultimately, left after 45 mins.
Additionally, while the film is set in the present day, the way it’s shot on 16mm – and with a deliberate slightly soft-focus look to us, made me think we were in the 1970s.
Between The Temples is in cinemas now, but isn’t yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD. However, once announced, it will appear on the New DVD Blu-ray 3D and 4K releases UK list.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 111 minutes
Release date: August 23rd 2024
Studio: Sony Pictures Releasing
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 (16mm)
Cinema: Odeon Trafford Centre
Rating: 6/10
Director: Nathan Silver
Producers: Tim Headington, Taylor Hess, Nate Kamiya, Adam Kersh, Theresa Steele Page
Screenplay: Nathan Silver, C Mason Wells
Cast:
Ben Gottlieb: Jason Schwartzman
Carla O’Connor: Carol Kane
Judith Gottlieb: Dolly De Leon
Meira Gottlieb: Caroline Aaron
Rabbi Bruce: Robert Smigel
Gabby: Madeline Weinstein
Nat: Matthew Shear
Darcy: Lindsay Burdge
Twins: Julia Walsh, Brittany Walsh
Cindy: Diane Lanyi
Rachel: Annie Hamilton
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.