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Every once in a while, I come across a film that really surprises me. And this is one of them. From the trailers, I expected it to be the Typical American Chick Flick. But I was in for a surprise…
Uma Thurman stars as Rafi Gardet, a 37-year-old New York career girl who’s trying to pull her life together after signing the papers that ended her nine-year marriage. The last thing she expected was to meet someone else right away—but when she meets David (Bryan Greenberg), she knows she’s found someone special. When she finds out that David’s only 23, however, she’s not sure if she should keep seeing him. David, meanwhile, almost instantly falls madly in love with Rafi. Age doesn’t matter to him. All that matters is that his feelings for her are like nothing he’s felt before.
Rafi shares her excitement—and her reluctance—with her therapist, Lisa (Meryl Streep), who encourages Rafi to do what makes her happy by continuing the relationship and not worrying about where it will lead. But when Lisa discovers that Rafi’s younger man is her son, she’s faced with a tough decision. Should she tell her patient and end their sessions? Should she continue and pretend she knows nothing? But how can she continue to encourage Rafi to keep doing what makes her happy when it means that her son will keep seeing a 37-year-old divorcee who’s not even Jewish?
Prime isn’t the chick flick that I expected. Yes, there’s romance. Yes, there’s comedy. And I know that these are the ingredients that typically make up a chick flick. But Prime is grittier than what you might expect—and it’s certainly more honest and realistic. Its low budget (only about 5% of the budget for the latest Harry Potter movie) means that there’s no flash. No fancy effects to take away from the story—and no dramatic score to sway viewers’ emotions. In fact, there’s very little music at all, which almost made me squirm in my seat. Moviegoers aren’t used to that kind of intimacy with characters (or with fellow moviegoers, whose every chuckle you could hear as plainly as if you were seated next to them). And the story isn’t what you’d expect, either. It’s surprisingly real. The dialog is realistic, as are the characters and their feelings. And the plot isn’t as soft and cuddly as what you’d expect from a chick flick. Not everything is black and white—and the decisions that the characters make will actually cause you to think. Yet, at the same time, this movie is really funny at times, too.
While I’m probably the one person out there who’s never really been a fan of Uma Thurman, she’s stunning in this film. Her performance is wonderful, and she’s just plain beautiful. Streep is enjoyable as the therapist caught in the middle. And Greenberg, while a relative newcomer, is cute and lovable and perfectly naïve.
If you tend to watch movies to escape reality, be warned that this movie is real. It’s not a sappy chick flick. It might even make you feel a little uncomfortable at times. But it’s a well-written, well-done film that’s worth seeing—as long as you know what you’re getting yourself into.
