Carol Kane and Jason Schwartzman on ‘Between the Temples,’ a Screwball Comedy That Shows It’s Never Too Late for a Bat Mitzvah

variety.com:

Brent Lang Executive Editor When Nathan Silver’s mother was in her mid-60s, she decided to have a bat mitzvah. As the indie filmmaker started telling people that his mother was embarking on a rite of passage usually reserved for teenagers, a friend urged him to turn her story into a movie.

Now, “Between the Temples,” a screwball comedy inspired by mom’s coming-of-age ceremony, will premiere at Sundance, with Carol Kane and Jason Schwartzman playing an elderly bat mitzvah student and a depressed cantor who forge an unlikely bond. “It’s one from the heart,” says Silver. “It’s a story that touches on many aspects of my life.” It also gives Kane and Schwartzman, who so often steal scenes in supporting roles, a chance to shine as leads.

Signing on required a leap of faith for Kane because Silver’s scripts, which he calls “scriptments” and likens to novellas, aren’t traditional. “It was intimidating,” Kane says. “There are scenes and outlines, but it’s more of a blueprint.

And then the actors get to add their own ideas and flesh it out.” Schwartzman felt the looseness gave the film a greater sense of authenticity. “It became this wonderfully alive experience where you knew the music you were going to play, but there was this openness to improvising and adding things in the moment.” The process reminded Kane of working with Elaine May and John Cassavetes on a project called “Singles.” The collaborators would workshop scenes and dialogue before polishing them. “It was brilliant.