2,3,5,7,11,13,17.. don't worry this film isn't about prime numbers (Prime (DVD))

Member Name: Virtuoso

Product:	Prime (DVD)
Date:	28/02/09 (92 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good acting, not packed with the normal chick flick cliches

Disadvantages: Undeveloped storylines and weak ending

I seem to be reviewing a little of female products recently, and just so I don't disappoint I thought I would review a chick flick. I sat down with no expectations about this film, normally I would at least want to know a sketchy outline of the plot, or have read a summary, but for this one I went in as blind as a mole with cataracts. This is quite a refreshing thing to do, I should do this more often, damn all these review sites spoiling the fun!

First thing that struck me about this film was the strong female cast, Uma Thurman and Meryl Streep, that's quite a dream team. I had not heard of the male lead, Bryan Greenberg, I assumed that this was because either they had run out of budget after paying Uma and Meryl, or because this hapless chap would just be a side dish, digested and spat out by the fearsome duo of actress extraordinaires. As it turns out the whole cast do a good job, and Mr Greenberg plays 'anguished' well, he plays 'dumb' well, he plays 'witty one liners on the first date' well, he plays 'concentrating on video games' well, and most importantly he plays 'rippling six-pack' well.

The film centres around a recently divorced 37 year old woman (Uma), her newly found toyboy (Bryan), and her therapist (Meryl). I won't give away the twist in the film but the relationship between these three characters is not quite as straight forward as it seems. I am annoyed with myself that I didn't see it coming, but then it is revealed fairly early on and doesn't really have any bearing on the substance of the film.

There are two main motifs running through the film, the first being how religious differences affect a relationship, he is jewish, she isn't, the parents want a good jewish girl. This really isn't explored very thoroughly, despite this being heavily relied on initially in the film. We are led to believe that there will be huge conflict, but this aspect of the film just fizzles out into nothing as she is rapidly accepted, despite their previous misgivings. This doesn't sit very well for me, it seemed like this plot line was just wasted.

The second major motif in the film is the difficulty of dealing with an age gap. He is 23, she is 37. He likes video games, rap music, clubbing, hanging out with his dysfunctional friends, living with his grandparents, not having a job. She likes moaning about how old she is, yoga, going to therapy, art galleries, having a huge apartment with teal cupboards, having a well paid job. How can this ever work! Let me spell it out for you.. S...E...X.. but is this enough? Will a bit of rumpy pumpy save the day for our odd couple? Is this both what they REALLY want for the rest of their lives? Will batman get there on time?

The only question we can really be sure of is that batman will get there on time, because at the end of the film I felt distinctly unsatisfied. Although this wasn't a sugar-pie-happy-gaga-singing-dancing-waves-crashin g-blue-sky-candy-joy-joy ending, which I was thankful for, nor was it a dramatic ending. It just fizzled out, rather like the early religious conflict motif. I have no problem with films that leave you wondering, it's just that with this one I wasn't wondering anything other than whether I had fed the cat.

On a positive note it did avoid all the tired old cliches associated with this genre, the twist made things a little interesting, and the performances are strong of course, but it just needed something towards the end to lift the film to the next level.

Summary: Watchable but not watch-again-able