A film
review by James Berardinelli for ReelViews.net.
Consider a
movie that takes place in the Big Apple and features a heterosexual romance
with an age gap, a dose of Jewishness,
a psychoanalyst, and an ending that doesn't pander to all the usual clichés.
This may sound like Woody Allen - in fact, it often feels like Woody Allen
(minus the expected helpings of angst) - but it's not. Prime is from writer/director Ben
Younger and, while it's not up to the level of Allen's great romantic
comedies (Annie Hall, Manhattan),
it's better than anything the acclaimed New York auteur has brought to the
screen in recent years.
Prime accedes to a number of the romantic
comedy formulas to keep aficionados of the genre happy, while at the same time
flouting enough of them to remain fresh and engaging. It also manages the
difficult task of making the material funny without turning it into a sit-com.
(Although there are a few times when it threatens to cross the line - consider
the grandmother with the frying pan.) Prime
is amusing and romantic, and offers a few intelligent opinions about the
difficulties of bridging cultural and generational gaps in dating. Movies often
treat these issues as either inconsequential or insurmountable. Prime falls more realistically in the
middle ground; the keys to success are not love and passion, but commitment and
maturity.
Rafael Rafi Gardet (Uma Thurman) is a 37-year old woman who, on the rebound from a
messy divorce, finds herself head-over-heels in love with Dave Bloomberg (Bryan Greenberg), a man 14 years her
junior. And, as if the age gap is not enough, Dave is Jewish while Rafi is not.
This doesn't mean much to Dave, but it's an issue for his mother, Lisa (Meryl Streep), who can't bear to think
about her son in love with someone who isn't Jewish. Rafi confides all the
intimate details of her new love affair with her therapist - the same Lisa
Metzger who is Dave's mother. Both women are unaware of their non-professional
connection until Lisa figures it out. At that point, she has a dilemma:
terminate her sessions with Rafi or do her best to keep her composure and
continue the therapy. While she is wrestling with this decision, Rafi and Dave
encounter the first rough patches of their new relationship.
Prime treads carefully around the issue of
ethics. For us to accept Lisa as more than an interfering mother, we have to
believe she has Rafi's best interests at heart, and we do. Although Lisa's
sessions with Rafi are laced with comedic moments (such as one in which Rafi
confesses, [Dave's] penis is so beautiful
I just want to knit it a hat - something I'm sure no mother wants to hear
about her son, no matter how flattering the revelation may be), there's an
undercurrent of seriousness. Give at least partial credit to Meryl Streep, who
refuses to allow Lisa to sink to the level of a caricature. By keeping her
real, the film avoids a significant misstep.
Having
finished attempting to Kill Bill, Uma
Thurman gets a chance to relax in a less physical role. She outshines her
younger and less experienced co-star, Bryan Greenberg, but the two display
enough chemistry to keep the film from stalling. It's easier to see what Dave
sees in Rafi than the other way around. I suppose the allure of youth, physical
attractiveness, and innocence is enough to blind Rafi to her lover's
shortcomings - including a preference for playing video games over frolicking
in the bedroom.
Although
Rafi and Dave's relationship faces hurdles (including Dave’s one-night-stand
with Sue (Mini Anden) a model who
works with Rafi), the film does not throw the obligatory romantic complications subplot at us - at least not in the expected
fashion. Prime is smarter and more
sophisticated than that. And the resolution takes viewers in a different
direction than that of most romantic comedies. We get to see what happens after
the main story is over. Is the epilogue necessary? Probably not, but it adds
another dimension to the movie, and makes me wish more romantic comedies would
go this route.
The
writer/director is Ben Younger, who is making his first feature since 2000's The Boiler Room. Prime is a different kind of project, but the screenplay shows
evidence that Younger is a keen observer of human interaction, and there are
enough small touches to indicate that he understands a little about the difficulties
inherent in a coupling where one participant is significantly older than the
other. Unlike many movies reaching theaters at this time of the year, Prime is not an Oscar contender, but
it's a satisfying romantic comedy and a worthwhile diversion. [Berardinelli’s
rating: *** out of 4 stars]
Labels:
comedy, drama, romance
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