PRIME

Laughing yet? Me neither.

There's nothing more depressing than watching a well-intended movie fail to fly. It's like watching a baby bird flap its tiny wings, but before you can say, "Awww," it pitches out of the nest and drops to the ground. Sadly, Prime is one of these little birdies.

Recently divorced Rafi (Uma Thurman) falls in love with David (Bryan Greenberg). He's an embarrassing fifteen years her junior, so she's a little unsure about the whole thing. Luckily she's got her trusted therapist, Lisa Metzger (Meryl Streep), to guide her. She spills all the juicy details to Lisa, never suspecting that the good doctor is also the mother of her new boyfriend. Oops.

You'd think this little relationship triangle would come to light almost immediately, but Lisa disapproves of David's new gentile girlfriend and refuses to meet her. Rafi prattles on and on about the most intimate details of her love affair, and Lisa slowly puts the pieces together. She finds herself in a rather unethical situation that leads to a lot of silly business. Imagine Lisa diving behind a bed at the furniture store and conspicuously hiding the family photos in her office—all to avoid being found out by David and Rafi.

To the movie's credit, the love affair between David and Rafi is portrayed realistically. Rafi is appropriately disgusted by David's undying love for Nintendo, and a particularly annoying best friend who throws pie in the faces of girls who won't go on a second date with him. How can she even consider starting a family with David when the playing field is so uneven? Their love may not last forever, but there is no question that it's genuine.

Prime is, essentially, a movie about learning from love and finding yourself. Lisa learns that she offers more support to her patients than to her own family. Brian matures and, through Rafi's encouragement, comes into his own as a painter. Rafi realizes that she deserves the kind of love she's always wanted. They support each other in ways that allow them both to find their wings and fly. I wish I could say as much for the movie itself.

Prime has such a strange blend of slapstick comedy, realism, and romance that the lasting impression is one of inconsistency. Some of the tiniest plot points and jokes come full circle while other major details are completely glossed over. There are often no segues between events. The cast is unappealing....

I know, I know, Meryl and Uma are "A-listers", but neither one is very compelling in Prime, and Brian Greenberg isn't really worth talking about. Meryl combines Clucking Neurotic with Jewish Mother to particularly annoying effect, and every time she gets nervous, she gropes her own boobs like she's conducting a pat-down search at the airport. Uma is pleasant, but she reminds me alternately of a goldfish and an alien. Lovely as she may be, it's hard to relate to a girl whose home planet may not be earth.

The DVD comes with feature commentary from writer/director Ben Younger and producer Jennifer Todd, deleted scenes, outtakes, and interviews with the "Prime Time Players". It's during the interviews that things get really depressing. As you listen to the cast and crew talk about the potential they saw in Prime, you realize that on some level it must have been a labor of love. It makes you feel for the proud papa bird whose baby fell from the nest, never learning to fly.