Terapia do Amor

In spite of most negative comments submitted to IMDb, Ben Younger's "Prime" is an interesting look at a mismatched pair in this story. It also raises ethical questions about when does a therapist has to decide what is best for a patient. Ben Younger whose film debut was "The Boiler Room", has a keen eye for the situation he is presenting in this film that seems to be perceived as a "chick flick", but that otherwise is a funny take on how love can make a person blind to reality.

Rafi, the lovely woman at the center of the action, has gone through a painful divorce. Is she ready for another deception? No, she is much stronger now, and with the help of Lisa, her therapist, she will know better how to deal with anyone that might try to play with her feelings.

Enter David, the young hunk of a guy, who likes what he sees when he meets Rafi, casually, one night while waiting to go in to see a film at Cinema Village. Indeed, Rafi is all what any young man could wish for. Not only is she gorgeous, but as it turns out, she is a bit older. But does that matter at all? No way!

Lisa is Rafi's therapist. In fact, she is a bit surprised to find that Rafi has fallen for a younger man. She advises her to take a chance and see where it goes, but be careful not to be hurt again. The only thing is she has no clue it's her own son who is involved in the romance.

The question of ethics come into play as Liza agonizes she is not doing the right thing with her patient, something that has to be worked with her own therapist. Not only that, but Lisa, as well as her Jewish family expects David to stay within his own when he picks the girl he will marry.

"Prime" is light and works well because of the work of the three principals. Uma Thurman is the ideal actress for playing Rafi. Not only is she a gorgeous woman, but she is an actress who never gives a false note in the character she is portraying. Meryl Streep is also at her best in playing the therapist. Bryan Greenberg plays David with ease and makes him comes alive.

In spite to have gone to see the film without any expectation, we found the film light and entertaining thanks to Ben Younger's direction.

Midway through "Prime," there's a scene in which Uma Thurman's character, Rafi, comes to her boyfriend's (Bryan Greenberg) house for dinner with his family. His mom, played by Meryl Streep, as usual giving a performance better than the movie it's in, has up until very recently been Rafi's therapist. The women must now navigate very tricky terrain. A relationship that had been maternal in one way has now become maternal in a very different way. The therapist loves Rafi and thinks she's a wonderful person, but she also knows much about her that prospective mothers-in-law don't necessarily know about their sons' girlfriends, things that compound the problems raised by Rafi's not only being 14 years older than the son, but also decidedly NOT Jewish.

I wish more of "Prime" had been about this relationship, the one between Thurman and Streep. As it is, the movie feels like it has two separate halves that the young director/writer Ben Younger doesn't successfully bring together into a comprehensive whole. The rest of the film follows Rafi and her boyfriend as they try to build a relationship despite the age difference. Nothing about this half of the movie is new or fresh, and Younger never convinced me why I should care. I was too distracted by the fact that he had a wonderful actress like Streep in his film and didn't seem to know what to do with her.

"Prime" is far from a bad film, and given its indifferent reception when it was released in theatres, I actually expected it to be worse than it was. But it is a rather half-baked film, and not one you need to spend a lot of mental energy on, which in this case is a criticism, because it raises a lot of interesting ideas that it never explores.

Grade: B-

This is a situational movie. People get into and out of interesting situations and you might be amused by it, feel romantic or feel bad, but this does not define the romantic comedy genre as I see it. You don't watch this movie to feel good about the romantic endeavors that litter your brain but are almost never real, nor do you watch it to laugh at what is going on.

I especially liked the fact that Uma Thruman didn't play the role of the stupid blonde that she got in some of her latest movies and also that the movie tried to capture reality more than fantastic situations that no one can relate to and that always end in happy ending.

Mix Jewishness, visits to the psychologist, divorcées in the fashion business having gay friends and dating younger guys and you get ... New York. :) Well, this is a good movie. A lot of the clichés one would expect in a New Yorkish movie are broken or not existent and the ones that are left are well blended into the plot.

There isn't much to say about the plot that wouldn't spoil it, so I will not say anything. Uma Thurman plays well, Merryl Streep is always a good actress, but in this movie manages not the be annoying as well, which I think is a step up for her. My wife asked me to keep it, so I guess if I enjoyed it and also did she, then it's a winner all around.

I happened to catch the second half on HBO one night. I saw the entire movie a few nights later. I could easily watch it through again -- I was really drawn into the movie. I had to look it up on IMDb just because I was thinking about it so much.

There's a lot of negative reviews here, much more than the movie deserves. Movies are like people -- some you despise, many leave you indifferent, and some just really *click*. My roommate came back from "Saw III" hyper and proclaiming it the "BEST movie EVER!!!" -- I can guarantee you he wouldn't care for this. "Prime" also doesn't have any of the typical emotional manipulations found in your average rom-com. It makes do with much subtler if still dramatic material. For example: the meeting between Rafi and David is low-key, slightly awkward, nothing like, say, the Ferris wheel scene in "The Notebook". Ryan Gosling threatening suicide to get a date is certainly entertaining, but it also leaves me slightly detached, too aware this is a story for my viewing pleasure.

"Prime" is the anti-"Grease". There's nothing STYLIZED about it; no fairy-tale ending. If you can do with such accoutrements you'll be sucked in, especially if you can relate to the very upper-middle-class New York viewpoint that permeates it. Another reviewer was quite insightful in comparing it to "Annie Hall".

As for the relentless disparagement of Bryan Greenberg in the male lead: you've got to be kidding me!!!! He doesn't play the role the way, say, a young Al Pacino would play it. His persona is understated, relaxed almost to the point of passivity, slightly unsure, sarcastic and naive and vulnerable all at once. Completely believable as a 23-year-old who would appeal to and be attracted to a 37-yr-old divorcée. A more typical male lead his age wouldn't be dating Uma Thurman, he'd be charming Natalie Portman or Jessica Alba. Take the scene where he's trying to connect with the stoic doorman -- I totally cracked up and at the same time couldn't help but admire how true-to-life it felt. Everything about that scene bespoke an upper-middle-class 20-something living with his grandparents and lacking direction.

Not to mention that the intimacy between Rafi and David felt so natural that I felt convinced that Uma and Bryan had something off-screen during filming. The way they looked at each other, shared each other's space... the lust didn't seem acted, I'll put it that way.

To Ben Younger: despite all the people out there who don't get it, there are some of us who do. You really did an amazing job, and I doubt I'll ever forget "Bubbe" knocking herself with that frying pan... Lol.

Though it's tagged as a romantic comedy, 'Prime' falls in between a comedy and a serious drama. What I liked about it is that it's a lot less sugar-coated than the usual romantic comedy flicks and more realistic (but that makes it predictable too). As a director Younger does an adequate job but he could have made the script tighter as 'Prime' does drag in the middle (only to pick up in the end). The dialogues are quite interesting and the therapy sessions are fun to watch but a few of the jokes fall flat. Meryl Streep does a good enough job (but she's not at her best and why are her eyes always reddish?) as Rafi's therapist and David's opinionated mother. Bryan Greenberg holds his own in a film with two established actresses. But, 'Prime' belongs to Uma Thurman all the way. She is simply terrific as the vulnerable Rafi and her transformation up till the end is effectively portrayed. On the whole, 'Prime' is a decent film with good performances. Not bad for a one-time watch.