It's never easy to meet your significant other's parents -- but it's even harder when one of them is your therapist.
This is the case in the new romantic dramedy "Prime," written and directed by Ben Younger, best known for 2000's "Boiler Room." The story unfolds as Rafi (Uma Thurman) visits her therapist to discuss her just-completed divorce.
A 37-year-old career woman, Rafi is stunned and in denial over the collapse of her nine-year relationship. Her therapist, Dr. Lisa Metzger (Meryl Streep) advises her to take things slowly and "enjoy [her] new life."
Rafi meets a young Brooklyn painter, David Bloomberg (Bryan Greenberg), who happens to be Dr. Metzger's son. None of this clicks until one therapy session where Rafi reveals the truth of her burgeoning relationship -- her new boy toy is 14 years her junior. What is even funnier is that Dr. Metzger advocates a relationship with a younger man until she finds out who Rafi was actually dating.
In an ongoing and hilarious motif, Metzger goes to see her own therapist to discuss the ethical complications surrounding her patient's involvement with her son and her inability to continue their professional relationship.
The comedy is light but fulfilling at the same time. The well crafted script gleans just enough comedy out of each situation without making the film completely dependent on the central mother-son-girlfriend gimmick.
The triangular relationship is the main crux of the film. Further complicating this central dilemma is Dr. Metzger's devout Judaism and Rafi's shiksa status. The dinner scene in the Metzger's home is one of the funniest (and most uncomfortable) situations in the entire film. David's grandmother orchestrates the scene, dropping the punch line when she turns to Rafi in the middle of a different conversation and says, "So I hear you are thinking of converting to Judaism."
The acting is likewise commendable; all find ways to make their characters fresh and believable. Bryan Greenberg is especially impressive -- this up-and-comer is clearly going to go far. He is convincing as a naive young artist, even though the starving-artist-in-a-romantic comedy angle is becoming quite cliche
Thurman, beautiful as always, does magnificently playing Rafi as an under-loved and overworked middle-aged career woman. It's clear why the two would fall in love; both are attractive people looking for something fun yet serious.
Streep plays her role as she does any other -- with understated exuberance. She dives into the mind of Dr. Metzger, the fifty-something Jewish psychoanalyst from the Upper West Side, and obviously has a great time with it.
The scene in which she initially finds out and forces Rafi out of her appointment time really gives Streep the opportunity to work her performing magic. Metzger closes the door behind Rafi quickly and leaps to the couch, flattening out the wrinkles in her clothing while doing breathing exercises she clearly hasn't used since pregnancy.
One character that seemed a bit superfluous was David's best friend Morris, played by Jon Abrahams. A listless amalgamation of romantic comedy stereotypes, he felt out of place in "Prime."
Younger acknowledged that, through Morris's character, he was angling for a 'slapstick feel.' "I wanted to make sure that there was a good age contrast between David and Rafi's friends," Younger told the Daily a few weeks ago. While Morris did help to demonstrate that contrast quite explicitly, his character ended up being a dead-weight, creating more plot contrivances than innovations.
For the most part, "Prime" succeeds as a light and airy film. It is the perfect date movie -- not quite as uplifting as cheesy Reese Witherspoon fare but also not as dreadfully anti-romantic as last winter's "Closer." The strongest aspect of this film is that it draws its laughs not from tired bathroom humor or contrived situations, but from the characters and their interactions. This is a fabulous example of a writer/director in his prime.
