Prime

Prime (Director: Ben Younger)















Younger wrote and directed the cult-fave Boiler Room. He wrote this film, too.

It's about time Annie Hall became it's own genre. If it's a romantic comedy set in New York, has psychological issues, is filled with Jewish culture, and has a more grown-up view of relationships, then it's veering towards Woody Allen's classic territory. What was surprising was that it gets to that point at all. The previews made for madcap psychological mayhem, a weird Freudian love triangle with farcical elements. That is not the case.

Recently-divorced Rafi Gardet (Uma Thurman, exotically beautiful) meets way-younger David (Bryan Greenberg) and they become fast lovers. Rafi reports all the sinful details to her therapist Lisa Metzger (Meryl Streep), who turns out to be David's controlling Jewish mother. At first, due to white lies, Lisa doesn't figure out who Rafi is talking about...but then, of course, she eventually does.

Time for hilarious hijinks then, right? Well, Prime is more interested in deconstructing the adult relationship, which in our fast-food society may mean terrible box office (although that slick marketing may fool some people). It has bigger issues at hand than exploring the "All You Need Is Love" of the Beatles' philosophy. Raji is approaching forty, and she's thinking about having a baby. She is well-established in her work, and she's...well, she's a grown-ass woman. Meanwhile, David is still exiting childhood. He doesn't know what he wants. He's charming and handsome, but he's also young and dumb, and inexperienced in so many matters. This is where the movie has some real balls. Whereas your typical romantic comedy would explore that crazy Jewish hilarity, this one focuses on real issues. It turns out, love isn't all you need (which is the staple of all stupid romantic comedies).

More positives: We see the relationship begin like real ones do--not where there's some dumb misunderstanding and the two characters hate each other and some false shared moment gets them together. And Meryl Streep turns in an absolutely what-did-you-expect-from-a-13-time-Oscar-nominated-goddess? performance. But I shouldn't go without saying that the leads are very appealing, too. Uma Thurman and Bryan Greenberg make an excellent pair in this. It's just going to be hard to get people onboard, I believe. This weekend, especially with all the other movies coming out, it may get buried, and then have some negative feedback from the few they get to come watch. It's not your everyday run-of-the-mill romance, which is a good thing.