04/07/06 Prime

Prime (2005), directed by Ben Younger

watched w/ Leslie; DVD rental (Record Exchange) @ home

This is unfortunate. This "chick flick" had cross-gender potential, as well as refreshing chance to revive a tired genre. Though 2/3 of the movie had mildly entertaining promise, with smatterings of indy movie flare with casting and dialogue, but it spiralled out of control towards the end. Uma Thurman plays a newly divorced 37 year-old (hmmm, prime number) New Yorker who must traverse her new found single dating life, all the while visiting her shrink (Meryl Streep) to help with her new found personal inadequacies. Her troubles all change when she finds true love in the form of a younger man, a budding 23 year-old (hmmm, another prime number) artist, whose family doesn't understand him. They fall head-over-heels for each other, despite the constant reminder of the age difference. One slight problem...OK, you see it coming...the shrink is also the mother of the younger man, which causes all kinds of ethical and romantic problems. A hokie premise yes, but it also was a refreshingly honest look at single city dating scenes, friend & family pressures, and reaching one's sexual peak (or prime if you will...hmmm). The end, not to ruin a ruiner for you, is even hokier, with one melodramatic entanglement after another. The film loses all its honesty for stupid sappy staples. And to think, this same dude directed "Boiler Room" with Vin Diesel...that was way sexier.

2 out of 5 stars