Product: Prime
Rating: 2.0
A one-joke movie that never really works.
"Prime," despite strong performances from the lead actors, is a one-joke film that tries to make that joke work for far too long.The joke, of course, is that Rafi Gardet (Uma Thurman), a 37-year-old divorcee, has fallen in love with a much younger man who happens to be the son of her therapist (Meryl Streep).Unfortunately, you could watch this film's trailer and "get" that almost immediately.In fairness, "Prime" features some terrific work from Thurman and Streep (the scene where her character figures out that her son is Gardet's young lover is borderline priceless), there are some funny moments, and there's an attempt to establish interesting relationships, but there's the problem of that one-joke plot, which hangs on for fully half the film's length.Then there's the problem of what I like to call "unique-character-itis," which is endemic to romantic comedies like this. You have, of course, the male lead's churlish best friend, the female lead's gay and female best friends, and, of course, glamorous careers filled with Interesting and Unique People that pay for Really Nice New York Apartments. Let's just say that "Prime" is no exception in this regard.In the end, you have a film that's unworthy of the good work of its actors.