Chemistry highlights Between the Temples, a movie that sort-of qualifies as a rom-com with its look at a sincere, loving connection between two people. The duo, however, fly against norms, even if you already saw Harold and Maude, the long-ago cult favorite that featured a love affair between an older woman and much younger man. Similarly, Between the Temples shows a mismatched duo sharing a bond that on the surface makes little sense. He, played by Jason Schwartzman, faces a crisis of faith
that stops him from his singing as cantor of an upstate New York synagogue. She, in the form of Carol Kane, wants to re-investigate her Jewish heritage by having a bat mitzvah. Oh, and not quite by-the-way, she used to teach him music in grade school. The concept requires special rapport, which Schwartzman and Kane deliver with seemingly spontaneous ease. Part of the improvisational style comes from co-writer C. Mason Wells joining director Nahan Silver with a loosely developed storyline that allows actors to elaborate on some scenes by saying what comes to mind. The writers give their performers bits of witty dialogue, for instance noting that in Judaism, quote, “we don’t have heaven or hell, we just have upstate New York.” Silver uses that location as a sort of “everyworld,” a place where expected norms rule. Handheld camera work, overlapping dialogue, and grainy cinematography contribute to a low key sense that conflict does not have to include tragedy. As a result, Between the Temples manages a rarity, coming off as sweet but not cloying.
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