Rolling Stone
3 stars out of 5 -- "The seriously gorgeous Thurman is effortlessly funny and affecting....Hilarious and heartfelt." 11/03/2005 p.105New York Times
"This is a tamer, if also more polished, effort, and it has some moments of energy, both comic and sexual, as well as a fondness for real Manhattan locations." 10/28/2005 p.E1 Sight and Sound
"Thurman oozes star quality as she essays a convincing transformation from miserable divorcee to giddy lover..." 02/01/2006 p.78-79 Total Film
3 stars out of 5 -- "Thurman exudes confidence and sensuality. Streep's on good form too." 06/01/2006 p.50 Ultimate DVD
4 stars out of 5 -- "It's a touching romance, a knowing look at familial dysfunction and a truthful exploration of society's prejudices." 10/01/2006 p.122 ReelViews 6 of 10
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 clichŽs. 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 in 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. 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 an - James Berardinelli
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