Prime (2005)

50% of critics liked it
(117 reviews)
52% of users liked it
(90,401 ratings)

Two women get a new and unusual perspective on the doctor/patient relationship in this romantic comedy. Rafi Gardet (Uma Thurman) is a woman in her mid-thirties who has recently gone through a messy divorce. Rafi has been seeing an analyst, Lisa Metzger (Meryl Streep), as she struggles to get back… More Two women get a new and unusual perspective on the doctor/patient relationship in this romantic comedy. Rafi Gardet (Uma Thurman) is a woman in her mid-thirties who has recently gone through a messy divorce. Rafi has been seeing an analyst, Lisa Metzger (Meryl Streep), as she struggles to get back on her feet emotionally and look for new love. Rafi meets a man named David Bloomberg (Bryan Greenberg), and the two quickly hit it off, but Rafi isn't sure if she should pursue the relationship, since David is only 23 years old. After discussing the burgeoning romance during one of their weekly sessions, Lisa urges Rafi to take a plunge with David, and not be afraid to seek out the companionship she needs. However, there's something about David that Lisa doesn't know -- he's her son. Rafi doesn't know that Lisa is David's mother, either, and both psychiatrist and patient are thrown for a loop when they learn the truth. Prime was originally intended to star Sandra Bullock as Rafi, but she dropped out of the project shortly before filming began, reportedly due to disagreements with the director over the script, with Thurman taking her place. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: PG-13, 1 hr. 45 min.
Directed By: Ben Younger
Written By: Ben Younger
Genres: Drama, Comedy

In Theaters: Oct 28, 2005 Wide
On DVD: Mar 7, 2006
Studio: Universal Pictures

Critic Reviews

Richard Roeper, Ebert & Roeper
The writing and direction by Ben Younger is crisp and insightful enough to prevail, and the performances are all very good.
Desson Thomson, Washington Post
Follows a familiar boy-meets-girl scenario, but Younger turns the routine into combustible fun.
Peter Howell, Toronto Star
A movie as weirdly titled as it is constructed, the romantic comedy Prime is proof that even the great Meryl Streep occasionally slips up in her acting choices.
Ruthe Stein, San Francisco Chronicle
A cut above the formulaic romances Hollywood typically grinds out.
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel
Manages a number of decent PG-13 laughs.
Lisa Rose, Newark Star-Ledger
A wildly uneven picture that is confused at its core.
Joshua Starnes, ComingSoon.net
Like most relationship films it has a tendency to self-indulgence. Prime is less about relationships than it is about life lessons - a funny, bittersweet one; but that is unfortunately what a lot of relationships turn out to be.
Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com
"Prime" is an above average romantic comedy that still doesn't quite make the grade.
Cynthia Fuchs, Common Sense Media
Predictable comedy with lots of sex talk. Pushes PG-13 boundary.
Doris Toumarkine, Film Journal International
Really is nice, often charming, occasionally funny.
Ross Anthony, Hollywood Report Card
Not very funny, I didn't like it.
Camerin Courtney, Christianity Today
Ironically, this therapeutic romantic comedy ultimately suffers from too many unexplored issues.
Enrique Buchichio, Uruguay Total
Meryl Streep brilla en esta comedia romántica graciosa y disfrutable sobre el amor, los prejuicios, y otras costumbres muy humanas.
Harry Guerin, RTE Interactive (Dublin, Ireland)
You'd get/give a second date after this one. Probably.

Read all 14 critic reviews

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

Red L

I thought this film was well done. Young pretty guy falls for beautiful "older" woman (Uma Thurman). It just turns out that Uma's shrink (Meryl Streep) is pretty guy's mom. Imagine the possibilities! Meryl plays the Jewish mother/therapist well.
Daniel P

Disposable and enjoyable fluff that's funny, touching and vascillates between the realistic and the hyper-glossy. I was with it until about the last 15 minutes, when it started pulling punches and went saccharine on me. Lazily acted (even by Meryl Streep), but sharply written… More
Disposable and enjoyable fluff that's funny, touching and vascillates between the realistic and the hyper-glossy. I was with it until about the last 15 minutes, when it started pulling punches and went saccharine on me. Lazily acted (even by Meryl Streep), but sharply written otherwise... I'm damning it by faint praise, aren't I? I was mostly interested to see this because I liked Bryan Greenberg in Unscripted, where we saw him totally hungover trying to shoot the furniture store scenes. Take Nora Ephron and water her down, and you get a movie like this: it's not terrible, but that's about the best I can say for it.
Bethany M

Loved this, it was new and exciting and showed you that no matter what age you can really have fun. I love Greenberg too, he is an absolute babe.
Dean !

An ok idea for a rom-com that throws up some funny scenes and situations. Not as funny overall as I thought it would be and the last third of the film starts to become more of a drama? Worth a watch once I guess.
Megan S

I enjoyed this movie. It was really awkward and Meryl Streep's character should have sought a second opinion from her supervisor. It's funny because a trainer doing an Ethics training mentioned this movie as an excellent example of an ethical dilemma in counseling and what… More
I enjoyed this movie. It was really awkward and Meryl Streep's character should have sought a second opinion from her supervisor. It's funny because a trainer doing an Ethics training mentioned this movie as an excellent example of an ethical dilemma in counseling and what not to do about it.
♥Robyn

a light hearted love story about an older woman and a younger man with a 14year age difference......the story revolves around the therapist (meryl streep) councelling a woman (uma thurman)..on her love life when she discovers it is her own son her whole attitude changes. but in the… More
a light hearted love story about an older woman and a younger man with a 14year age difference......the story revolves around the therapist (meryl streep) councelling a woman (uma thurman)..on her love life when she discovers it is her own son her whole attitude changes. but in the end common sense prevails.
Lorenzo v

"She thought she could tell her therapist anything. But she's about to discover that she's already said too much..." Two women get a new and unusual perspective on the doctor/patient relationship in this romantic comedy. Rafi Gardet (Uma… More
"She thought she could tell her therapist anything. But she's about to discover that she's already said too much..." Two women get a new and unusual perspective on the doctor/patient relationship in this romantic comedy. Rafi Gardet (Uma Thurman) is a woman in her mid-thirties who has recently gone through a messy divorce. Rafi has been seeing an analyst, Lisa Metzger (Meryl Streep), as she struggles to get back on her feet emotionally and look for new love. Rafi meets a man named David Bloomberg (Bryan Greenberg), and the two quickly hit it off, but Rafi isn't sure if she should pursue the relationship, since David is only 23 years old. After discussing the burgeoning romance during one of their weekly sessions, Lisa urges Rafi to take a plunge with David, and not be afraid to seek out the companionship she needs. However, there's something about David that Lisa doesn't know -- he's her son. Rafi doesn't know that Lisa is David's mother, either, and both psychiatrist and patient are thrown for a loop when they learn the truth. Review Meryl Streep is the closest actress we've got to the great old stars of yesteryear. Bette Davis comes to mind. Meryl was trim and sexy a couple 6 years ago in "Adaptation" now in "Prime" she's a matronly Jewish mom filled with sense and sensibility. She is also very funny and the main reason to see this Jewish American farce. When she's on, we're on. I believed and enjoyed her predicament. I only wish the script, dealing with the relationship of Uma Thurman and Bryan Greenberg had been a bit smarter and more engaging. I bought that the sex was great and that Uma was discovering herself through this younger lover but their intimacy is clumsy and their dialogue very slight. It's as if the two Kaufman's of "Adaptation" were at work here and that the scenes involving Meryl were written by one and the scenes with the lovers by the other. The former ones however makes the evening a very pleasant one.
Jens S

The basic idea of the movie (a therapist counseling the woman her significantly younger son is dating) is actually pretty neat. Many movies would have tried and make a really low comedy about body fluids about it, but this film avoids most stereotypes and is actually all around sweet,… More
The basic idea of the movie (a therapist counseling the woman her significantly younger son is dating) is actually pretty neat. Many movies would have tried and make a really low comedy about body fluids about it, but this film avoids most stereotypes and is actually all around sweet, charming and realistic. The acting of Thurman as gorgeous but insecure woman in her late 30s and Streep as two-faced therapist is perfect, newcomer Greenberg as lover and son convinces too. The ending made me feel somewhat torn, though. While I appreciated the movie daring to leave the pure romantic comedy aspect for a few more serious tones, I somehow would have wished for it to transfer the message that age difference can work out and is not always that big of a deal. Still, really worth seeing for its performances and really amusing story.
Candy R

Uma Thurman is divorced and starts to date a younger college graduate. Finds out his mother is her therapist.
Wildaly M

Good enough romantic comedy.
Roy G

A go nowhere do nothing movie.
Emily A

This movie probably wouldn't be as funny if it wasn't so realistic and didn't have Meryl Streep. I didn't think I would go for this movie, but it was really good- and freaking hilarious. It's only drawback is that the comedy diminishes the more you see it.
Dean M

Average romantic-comedy and I dislike Meryl Streep's character trying to stop her son & patient's love relationship.
Sanjaya &

Not bad...
Jose Z

this is just a good movie, its first half is really funny, but its second hour it became kinda slow and boring at some moments, and also i expected a better ending, the one it has in my opinion its kinda dissapointing. Uma Thurman and Meryl Streep are really good on its respective… More
this is just a good movie, its first half is really funny, but its second hour it became kinda slow and boring at some moments, and also i expected a better ending, the one it has in my opinion its kinda dissapointing. Uma Thurman and Meryl Streep are really good on its respective roles, but the one who needs a little work is the leading male actor that i really dont know him.
Mike N

Today, green is gold and luck is magic. Who wants some cereal?? [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/neumdaddy/Lucky1.jpg[/img][img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/neumdaddy/Lucky2.jpg[/img][img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/neumdaddy/Lucky3.jpg[/img]… More
Today, green is gold and luck is magic. Who wants some cereal?? [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/neumdaddy/Lucky1.jpg[/img][img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/neumdaddy/Lucky2.jpg[/img][img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/neumdaddy/Lucky3.jpg[/img] [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/neumdaddy/Lucky4.jpg[/img][img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/neumdaddy/Lucky5.jpg[/img][img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/neumdaddy/Lucky6.jpg[/img] [img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/neumdaddy/Lucky9.jpg[/img][img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/neumdaddy/Lucky7.jpg[/img][img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/neumdaddy/Lucky8.jpg[/img] Lucky gets progressively more fanatical, like he's more interested in owning my soul than in a balanced breakfast. That last one could almost double as the final scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Hmm, marshmallows = Nazi parts?
Panta O

[b][size=5][color=red]Prime (2005)[/color][/size] [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/movie/custom/33/1152233.jpg[/img] [color=indigo]Ovaj sam film propustio u bioskopu, u stvari uopšte se i ne seæam da se davao u Australiji 2005... a možda sam tada bio na putu, ko æe… More
[b][size=5][color=red]Prime (2005)[/color][/size] [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/movie/custom/33/1152233.jpg[/img] [color=indigo]Ovaj sam film propustio u bioskopu, u stvari uopšte se i ne seæam da se davao u Australiji 2005... a možda sam tada bio na putu, ko æe to sada znati! Radnja se odvija u New York City-ju gde scenarista i režiser Ben Younger (BOILER ROOM) postavlja piæu pod naslovom PRIME, nežnu komediju koja pokušava da dvoje zaljubljenih održi iznad površine... [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/movie/gallery/1152233/photo_09_hires.jpg[/img] Rafi Gardet (Uma Thurman) se upravo razvela, 37 joj je godina, bez dece koje želi, poseæuje redovno svoju psiho-analitièarku i terapeutkinju Lisu Metzger (Meryl Streep). Odjednom se život prelepe i razoèarane Rafi odjednom menja na bolje od dana kada upoznaje Bryan Greenberg-a (David Bloomberg), 23-godišnjeg siromašnog slikara koji živi na istoènoj strani sa svojim dekom i bakom. Rafi je devojka iz bogatog dela grada i ne oseæa se udobno sa toliko mlaðom osobom kao partnerom, posebno što su tliko ralièiti, ali je seks izvanredan i ona to nikako ne želi propustiti... [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/movie/gallery/1152233/photo_07_hires.jpg[/img] Ispovedajuæi svoje "doživljaje" Lisi dobija podršku i savet da uživa u životu... sve dok Lisa ne shvati posle mnogobrojnih seansi da je mladiæ o kome Rafi prièa njen roðeni sin! [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/movie/gallery/1152233/photo_06_hires.jpg[/img] Ovo je blaga komedija sa dosta romanse koju bih preporuèio svima koji se oseæaju mladi u srcu, ali posebno onima koji su u svojim dvadesetim... sedite, opustite i uživajte... a nakon filma pokušajte odgovoriti sebi iskreno da li bi i vi mogli postupiti kao junakinja u filmu. [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/movie/gallery/1152233/photo_04_hires.jpg[/img] Solidna gluma i režija koji ovaj film svrstavaju u kategoriju koju preporuèujem zaljubljenima i onima koji to planiraju biti... [img]http://images.rottentomatoes.com/images/movie/gallery/1152233/photo_02_hires.jpg[/img] Ocena je 6/10.[/color][/b]
Andreia C

again meryl basically saved this movie with her comic stunts, the conversation with uma's character was real real comedy xD
Andrew F

It was actually a good movie. Meryl Streep is perfect, but she can't hold all of the weight. Uma Thurman and the Brian guy were okay... they could have been replaced. The ending: kind of weird. It could have been funnier.
Juli R

Yeah, I sort of liked this. Thurman is good and Streep saves this movie from being a total cliche.