There’s a great deal of comedy to be found in the very idea of organized religion. Between the Temples focuses on one man’s crisis of Jewish faith and how he unintentionally passes it on to others, often leading to comically obtuse situations. Director and co-writer Nathan Silver takes a lo-fi, Christopher Guest-ian approach to the film, with quick banter, and improv heavy dialogue to mixed results. It’s a film which hinges on the strengths of its leads, Jason Schwartzman and Carol Kane but, at nearly two hours long, it quickly runs out of steam to sustain itself to the end.

Silver, and co-writer C. Mason Wells, fill the film with details which could surely have only come from real experiences and observations about Jewish life that mostly transcend stereotypes and easy characterizations. Essentially, Between the Temples is a character study of Benjamin (Schwartzman), a cantor who’s lost his ability to sing, as he trains Carla (Kane) for her bat mitzvah. In between their lessons, Ben’s mothers (played by Dolly De Leon and Caroline Aaron) mettle in his affairs, trying to set him up for a date. Yes, the old stereotype of Jewish mothers playing matchmaker for their sons is still intact, but it’s made more darkly humorous once we realize that Ben’s wife recently passed away.

Notably, Ben’s faith isn’t what digs him out of his depression, nor is it Carla’s. Perhaps just as notably, Between the Temples doesn’t portray religion as a noose, preventing the characters from reaching their full potential. The film’s most ingenious moments are when they can bounce off each other, or expel their chaotic, misguided energies upon Rabbi Bruce (Robert Smigel, making a rare, non-Happy Madison appearance), his daughter Gabby (Madeline Weinstein), or Carla’s family. Silver is clearly aiming for cringe comedy, and achieves the feat several times, but it’s not enough to overcome the sometimes draining experience as it rambles to its bonkers conclusion.

There’s plenty of style to be found within Between the Temples, from John Magary’s frenetic editing to the loosely structured scenes, and several moments – including a recurring gag involving a creaky door – that rank among the funniest of the year. Schwartzman is in his element here, as he has been since hitting his latest stride in last year’s Asteroid City, tapping in to Ben’s grief and uncertainty over where his life is headed. There’s certainly a version of the film where Ben is an insufferable man-child, or Carla is a sad-sack in search of purpose, but Schwartzman and Kane inject enough specificity to make their characters feel fully realized.

But for all its charming elements, it’s hard not to leave the film feeling like a chore. (Thankfully it never feels like a lecture.) Were it stripped by about 15 minutes, we could be looking at a much more tightly wound narrative, but as it stands, Between the Temples never really justifies its tiresome length. Though those who have been steeped in the Jewish faith will likely recognize smaller nuggets of comedic wisdom, there is enough material here to appreciate otherwise, regardless of how hard it feels at times to get through.

Between the Temples will be in theaters nationwide on August 23.

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