Review of Prime (2005) by Chris O — 20 Aug 2010

Was Meryl Streep fantastic? Of course she was. Bringing the perfect touch of motherly love to an overbearing character, the role of a Jewish mother could have been blatantly offensive in the hands of a less talented individual. As it was, Meryl played the role to perfection.

However, having Meryl Streep on tap does not excuse the rest of this movie's completely boring presence. It wasn't that it was all that bad or poorly acted. It was just...dull. Bryan Greenburg was passable as David, a Jewish artist who falls for our heroine, Rafi, and isn't supported by his family in career or love. It's just that the script didn't give him a chance to move beyond this cycle and really create an intricate character. His basic part can be boiled down to: 1) Look pretty and sensitive because he's an artist. 2) Have sex with girlfriend. 3) Fight with his mother about it. 4) Fight with his girlfriend. 5) Apologize to girlfriend. Rinse, repeat, etc. This cycle happens at least three times throughout the movie and it just doesn't do anything to liven things up.

Uma Thurman's character, Rafi, is in a similar predicament. Playing a 37 year old who is trying to move past a divorce and finds herself falling for a younger man, you could expect this character to be a little bit meatier. However, the script conforms again to a very cyclical situation of falling for David, fighting with David, going to therapy, and whining to her friends about how young David is. Normally I like what Uma Thurman does, no matter the role. However, she couldn't bring life to the character like she usually does. There was no glow to her at all.

Overall, there was little meat to the script conforming to the usual conventions of the rom-com world. The premise of this film actually had a lot of opportunities for very unique jokes, powerful characters, and a truly moving romantic story line. Aside from the ever-flawless Meryl Streep, however, this movie went nowhere but down. It wasn't bad, but I could never make a case for how boring might be good.