Prime

A Review by Tom Condon, OP
(St. Martin Province)

Genre: Romance, Comedy

Release Date Oct. 28, 2005
Running Time 105 minutes
MPAA Rating PG-13 - for sexual content including dialogue, and for language

FILM SYNOPSIS:
Rafi (Thurman), a 37-year-old divorced New Yorker, meets and quickly falls for a 23-year-old painter from Brooklyn. Rafi's therapist, Lisa (Streep), thinks the new relationship is a great idea, even if it's not meant to last. But when Lisa discovers that her son is actually the guy dating Rafi, she finds it increasingly difficult to serve as her therapist.

I wondered why I could not remember the title of the new Meryl Streep movie. At the box office, I had to search out the title among the list of current films until finally I found it: Prime. What does that mean? Is it about a cut of steak? Shouldn’t it have been The Movie about the Therapist?

After seeing the movie, I know why I couldn’t remember the title. There is no connection between the movie and the title. What does the title mean? Unfortunately, the meaningless title indicates a much larger dilemma: A pointless movie.

Meryl plays a middle aged, Jewish, Upper West Side therapist. In the course of the movie, she discovers that Rami (Uma Thurman), her divorced, 37 year old patient, has begun a romantic relationship with David (Bryan Greenberg), her 23 year old son. The previews actually looked like this might be clever. Trust me, it’s not. It’s impossible to imagine that any therapist worth her salt would have continued the therapeutic relationship long after realizing that her patient was romantically involved with her son.

Neither a sophisticated Woody Allen type comedy with a lot of neurotic New Yorkers, or a romantic comedy, Prime rambles aimlessly, for two hours, before coming to an end. Much is made of the age difference between Rami and David, as well as the fact that Rami is not Jewish. At first, I thought it was nice to see religion dealt with in an American movie. But, the attention is minimal and superficial. At the end of Prime, the audience has no greater insight into relationships between people of different ages or religions, therapy, or anything else. Much of this could have been forgiven if the movie was actually funny. No such luck!

Meryl Streep is certainly one of the great film actresses of all time. A note to her many fans: Skip Prime and watch any watch a DVD of any of her great performances, from Kramer Vs. Kramer to Angels in America instead.

Tom Condon, OP