Film Reviews

Prime

• Rating:
• Director: Ben Younger
• Starring: David Bloomberg
• Details: US, 105mins, 15.

37-year-old career driven New Yorker Rafi (Thurman) is shocked to find that Dave (Bloomberg) - a budding artist - is only 23 years old and lives with his grandparents. Despite the age difference, Rafi is falling in love and takes the advice of her psychotherapist Lisa (Streep) to continue her relationship with David. But when Lisa finds out that David is actually her son, she tries to put the kibosh on the romance.Romantic comedies are ten-a-penny these days but Prime looks like it is actually attempting to stand out from the herd by trying to more original than most; it both fails and succeeds in this. Where it is a success is when writer-director Ben Younger concentrates on the little moments of a burgeoning relationship rather than go looking for that perfect movie moment like Cameron Crowe or Richard Curtis do; Prime is a lot subtler that most as there is no running-for-the-train or standing-outside-a-window-holding-a-beat-box-aloft scene. It is only when Younger opts for comedy that he finds himself in the land of Love Actually, Four Weddings etc. The humour relies on Streep's awkward squirms as she sits and listens to Thurman regaling her with her son's sexual exploits "His penis is beautiful, I want to kit it a hat". This gets old very quickly and Younger has the good sense to concentrate on the romance side of things. Thurman ghosts through the film and is never pushed to do a lot while Streep looks uncomfortable and her comic timing needs a little coaching. However, it does its best to be a little different and what no one expects is the finale, which is a nice touch and suggests there is hope for the future of the rom-com.

Review by Gavin Burke