Carol Kane dazzles in endearing ‘Between Temples’
The heart wants what it wants. And my heart wants more movies as offbeat, profound and charming as the Hebrew-centric “Between the Temples.” It joyfully deals with such diverse subjects as grief, empathy and the toppling of traditions and institutions. But what gladdens the ticker most is being in the presence of an actress as awe-inspiring as Carol Kane.
She’s seldom gotten her due, sacrificing stardom for the good of whatever production she graces. And she always, always ups the game of every actor she appears opposite, be it Andy Kaufman, Woody Allen, Al Pacino, Jack Nicholson, or in this case, Jason Schwartzman. But with this life-affirming treatise on being born again – not as a Christian, but a Jew – in her 70s, Kane is a pure delight, radiating blissfulness and genuine warmth in her character’s resolve to save Schwartzman’s widowed cantor from not just losing his voice, but his faith. It’s really something.
In raising Kane, director and co-writer Nathan Silver deftly showcase every asset that has forever endeared the actress to the masses: her childlike voice, unruly hair and sweet, sensitive eyes that help others subscribe to the same positivity she sees. And, boy, does Schwartzman’s Ben Gottlieb need an angel like Kane’s Carla Kressler, the good Samaritan who literally lifts him off the floor of an Upstate New York barroom before restoring the life that was completely sucked out by his wife’s death.
An inescapable “Harold and Maude” vibe runs through their every encounter. Heck, the entire movie emits an air of classic 1970s cinema forged by the likes of Arthur Penn, Hal Ashby and Robert Altman, directors who always elevated characters over plot in creating a free-form style that accentuated the absurdity and chaos that is our everyday lives. Silver and his co-writer C. Mason Wells appreciate that and introduce it into every facet of their film’s objective to elicit not just chuckles but sighs of self-recognition.
Above all they are inclusive and gentle, while integrating subtle rebukes of antisemitism, ageism and overly judgmental people who would deny someone else’s happiness because it does not agree with their worldview. The latter is best represented by Ben’s Buttinsky mother, Judith (Dolly De Leon, the breakout star from “Triangle of Sadness”), who should know better given the aspersions no doubt cast upon her for being both a Filipino immigrant and married to her more open-minded same-sex partner, Meira (Caroline Aaron).
Like many Jewish moms, Judith can be a noodge, forever pestering her near-comatose son to snap out of his year-long period of mourning. A running joke finds her haplessly playing matchmaker. Among her “perfect girls” is Madeline Weinstein’s gorgeous and vivacious Gabby, the daughter of Ben’s rabbi (the great Robert Smigel), still suffering the trauma of having been abandoned at the altar.
Weinstein and Schwartzman are great together, sharing one very funny scene in which a sexual act is performed just feet from the grave of Ben’s wife, a celebrated author whose book, “Right at the Wrong Time,” has sparked an uncontrollable desire within Gabby. You root for Gabby and Ben to become an item, but the latter’s heart belongs to Kane’s Carla, a retired music teacher who taught him how to sing as a child and is now determined to get him to sing again.
She’s equally bent on having him help her prepare for her upcoming Bat Mitzvah, a rite her Irish-American son, Nat O’Connor (Matthew Shear), is dead-set against. Not surprisingly, the Jew-Gentile dichotomy makes for some daringly cheeky humor, best exemplified when Nat and his family sit down to dinner with his mom and Ben at The Chained Duck restaurant. What makes the scene so funny is not just Nat’s exasperation over his mom cavorting with a Jew of his age, but that no one bats an eye over the name of the restaurant or its ridiculously massive menus.
And it’s not the only dinner scene serving up uncomfortable laughs. The one featured late in the third act is even more satiating. As is the entire movie. It’s exactly what the world needs at a moment when antisemitism is rife. And what better way to sway the zeitgeist than to have the courage to poke fun at yourself and your religion? And do it in a way that’s so universal you don’t need to be a member of the Tribe to get it.
That’s because “Between the Temples” is not really about what god you worship. It’s about whom you love and why. Like I said, the heart wants what it wants. And if Oscar voters have a pulse, their hearts should compel them to place an X next to Kane’s name next winter. She’s a Hollywood treasure and it’s high time her peers bestowed upon her the love she so rightfully deserves.
Movie review
Between the Temples
Rated: R for language, some sexual references
Cast: Carol Kane, Jason Schwartzman, Robert Smigel, Dolly De Leon, Caroline Aaron and Madeline Weinstein
Director: Nathan Silver
Writers: Nathan Silver and C. Mason Wells
Runtime: 111 minutes
Where: In theaters Aug. 23
Grade: A-
