Not enough laughs in ‘Prime’

By Christy Lemire

updated 2:28 p.m. ET Oct. 27, 2005

“Prime” might have been called “Primer,” if that name hadn’t already been taken by a low-budget sci-fi thriller about time travel.

Because Ben Younger’s movie feels like a primer: his guide to everything he loves about New York, all of which he lingers on too long at the expense of, say, narrative momentum and character development. (Then again, this is one of those movies in which the filmmakers describe the city in the production notes as a character in itself, so maybe that was intentional.)

An Antonioni festival at Cinema Village, a trip to Magnolia Bakery, a pickup basketball game at Tompkins Square Park — these are a few of his favorite things. And he wants you to love them too. Theoretically, Younger is trying to evoke a very specific, very personal slice of the city — his own multicultural, hip-hop-tinged version of a Woody Allen romantic comedy, just as “Boiler Room” was the writer-director’s twentysomething, hotshot spin on “Wall Street” in 2000.

Quick facts Starring: Meryl Streep, Uma Thurman, Bryan Greenberg, Jon Abrahams, Jerry Adler Director: Ben Younger Run time: 1 hour, 45 minutes MPAA rating: PG-13

“Prime” does have its moments of hilarity — mostly courtesy of Meryl Streep and Uma Thurman’s sly therapy-session banter — but too often it feels bogged down, repetitive and erratic.

While the same hyperanalytical conversation takes place four or five times regarding love, religion, children and responsibility, it’s never truly clear what Thurman’s character, Rafi, does for a living — it’s something in the fashion world. And Rafi makes a melancholy comment near the end of the movie about her family, and how they never ate dinner together while she was growing up.

Where did this come from? Who is this person?

It’s as if chunks were yanked out that provided substance and context, and in their place we get to watch a leisurely afternoon drive to the Hamptons.

That’s where Rafi and Bryan Greenberg’s David go for the weekend as their unexpected romance turns unexpectedly serious.

FREE VIDEO Meryl Streep Oct. 27: Actress Meryl Streep talks with "Today" host Katie Couric about her new movie, "Prime." Today show

Rafi, 37, is just out of a nine-year marriage and is hesitantly dating again, a transition she discusses with her therapist, Streep’s Lisa. David is an aspiring painter who lives with his grandparents — he’s 14 years younger than Rafi.

The age difference is an issue at first, but both learn to get over it because they’re having such a good time together. (Thurman and Greenberg share sufficient chemistry, and a couple of tastefully lighted sex scenes, which would suggest that this is indeed so — though Greenberg, from the HBO quasi-reality reality series “Unscripted,” is essentially relegated to being the straight man while the nubile Thurman and the neurotic Streep unknowingly spar.)

What becomes a problem, however, is the eventual discovery that Rafi’s boyfriend David and Lisa’s son David are the same person. Lisa figures this out first, which makes all of Rafi’s subsequent confessions about her satisfying new sex life seem more than a little uncomfortable. Yiddishe mama that she is — and Streep apparently had too much fun to care that the role is a broad stereotype — Lisa is more concerned with whether her client’s new boyfriend is picking up after himself when he visits her apartment. But the way this horrifying revelation subtly plays across her face is priceless.

What follows, though, is a tedious rehashing of who knew what when, as well as a series of relevant but increasingly redundant discussions about religion. Rafi isn’t Jewish, which breaks Lisa’s heart. (When David’s father wonders what religion Rafi practices, Lisa responds dryly over a corned beef sandwich, “Would you prefer one denomination over another as far as the love of Christ goes?”)

“Prime” leaves little else to wonder about, though — it’s the cinematic equivalent of a therapy session, in which nothing is left unsaid, but when the time’s up, nothing’s been accomplished either.

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