Plot: What’s it about?
Rafi (Uma Thurman) is thirty-seven and divorced, with a desire to try her luck with men again, but a little hesitant at the same time. She talks a lot about her concerns with her therapist Lisa (Meryl Streep), who can of course understand her worries. But she encourages her to get back out there and throw caution to the wind a little, have some fun. The logic is that you can’t make a cake without breaking some eggs, so Rafi should lower her guard a little. And lower her guard she does when she meets David (Bryan Greenberg), a twenty-three year old Jewish painter. As if the age difference weren’t enough, the religious clash adds more conflict potential, especially since Rafi isn’t that religious. Even so, Lisa encourages Rafi to pursue her feelings, but then she learns that Rafi’s new love interest is her son. Now she faces both personal and professional dilemmas, but can she still help Rafi, even in this unusual situation?
This movie is one I wasn’t really looking forward to, but with Uma Thurman on deck, I pushed on and hoped for a brisk experience. I dislike a lot of romantic comedies because they stray from reality too much, with too many twists and coincidences for my taste. In the case of Prime, you do have to suspend disbelief a little, but this is a fairly grounded storyline. Aside from the fact that the doctor continues to treat the patient after she realizes the situation, the plot is well crafted. That natural, believable texture helped me enjoy the film more than I expected, as did the good balance of humor and drama. Prime isn’t slapstick nor melodrama, it takes serious thought about what it presents, but also injects some humor. Thurman is excellent in her role and looks incredible, while Streep turns in a fine effort as well. I have been disappointed with most recent romantic comedies, but Prime is an example of how it should be done. Just enough romance, just enough humor, and the film is serious when it should be, so I give Prime a solid recommendation.
Video: How does it look?
Prime is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen. This is a fine visual presentation, not one that stands out as excellent, but no problems arise. The print is clean, so the visuals don’t look soft or worn, but this is a new release, so that is expected. The colors have a warm, natural presence and flesh tones look accurate, so no concerns there. I saw no problems with contrast either, as black levels came across as smooth and refined, no loss of detail I could detect. This is a very good visual effort, but due to the basic visual design of the film, it never stands out as such.
Audio: How does it sound?
You wouldn’t expect much from a romantic comedy in terms of audio and this proves to be no exception to that assumption. I do think the music sounds very good in this mix, but no other elements seem to touch the surround channels. But then again, this film uses a massive amount of dialogue and little else, so there’s no real call for frequent surround use. The dialogue is what counts here and in this case, it sounds clean and shows no real issues at all. The vocals are crisp and consistent, with no volume problems to spoil the good time. This disc also includes a French language track, as well as subtitles in English, Spanish, and French.
Supplements: What are the extras?
You can listen to director Ben Younger and producer Suzanne Todd discuss the production, which turns out to be a relaxed conversation. The two have worked together before and have a good back and forth discussion, though no landmark information is revealed. So just a standard audio commentary, but one that is a solid listen thanks to those involved. This disc also includes some deleted scenes, a reel of outtakes, and a brief look behind the scenes in a featurette.
