Prime

Posted by Tara Settembre (tara@filmschoolrejects.com) on March 20, 2006

Final Grade: B-

DVD Release Date: March 7, 2006

Prime is a sophisticated, character driven comedy set in New York City about a divorced woman dating a younger man, which is a basic enough story until it turns out the man she is dating, is her therapist’s son.

The Film
Newly divorced Rafi (Uma Thurman), 37, is a Manhattan businesswoman who’s surprised at how quickly love finds her, especially when it’s with a younger man of 23, Dave (Bryan Greenberg) an artist from Brooklyn. Dave’s mother (Meryl Streep) meanwhile is putting pressure on him to marry a Jewish girl within their faith. His mother is also Rafi’s psychiatrist. Yet, not knowing that Rafi is dating her son, she at first encourages her to ignore the age difference and to enjoy the new relationship, but when she hears her son is dating someone older she tells him to drop this now. Thus, problems ensue outside of their control despite being in love; especially when Rafi unknowingly and unabashedly tells Meryl about her sex life with her son.

The film basically consists of the two people falling in love and getting to know each other while dealing with their age and religious differences, which at first are overlooked but then brought to life during social interactions and as things get more serious.

Meryl Streep gives a controlled performance revealing the flaws of her character. I was expecting her to steal the show but she does a good job playing a more supporting role. Uma Thurman meanwhile gives a strong quiet and neurotic performance, and the unknown among the cast, Bryan Greenberg (One Tree Hill), plays a really endearing character, whose courting of Rafi is uncomfortably funny.

As for the film’s presentation I enjoyed the intimate shots like the close-ups on their feet underneath the table, their wine glasses and views of New York City. The instrumental score for the film plays throughout, not making for a quiet moment.

Special features include deleted scenes, outtakes, director’s commentary and cast and crew interviews. The deleted scenes are interesting but definitely not needed; the outtakes could have been funnier as well. The DVD is available in 1.85:1 Full Screen and Widescreen Anamorphic 2.35:1 formats and has subtitles in English, Spanish and French. Available Audio Tracks: English and French in Dolby Digital 5.1.

I was surprised to have liked this film, but I did mainly because of the realistic characters and good acting. It’s also not a simple romantic comedy and it shows that it’s not always easy to hold on to love, which makes it more realistic. The ads made it look like another Monster In Law film, but it has much more depth and unfortunately less comedy.

The Upside:
A refreshingly simple offbeat romantic comedy.
The Downside:
It drags near the end and could have ended much sooner and due to the social taboo there are many uncomfortable moments and not the happiest of endings.
On the Side:
Many of the scenes in Prime were filmed in the West Village of Manhattan, on my street actually. It even shows Magnolia Bakery, made famous from Sex and the City.

Making the Grade:
The Film: B-
The Delivery: B
The Extras: C+
Overall: B-

Click here to buy Prime on DVD from Amazon

Technorati: DVD Review, Movie, Film, Cinema, Romance, Romantic Comedy, Hollywood, Movie Review, Comedy, Fun, Funny, Humor

Read more articles by Tara Settembre