"His penis is so beautiful, I just want to knit it a hat!"

I got into a test screening of this on Monday.


First of all, there is something odd about this film. It's not quite that it doesn't know what it is - it's just a romantic comedy with some extra bells and whistles - but maybe the problem is, it doesn't know which side of the story it's looking at. Are we looking at Rafi (Thurman) and David's (Greenberg) relationship? Or are we looking at how it affects David's mother, Lisa (Streep), who also happens to be Rafi's psychoanalyst? It's a bit of a mess, torn between its loyalty to said romance, and the want to give Meryl some more screen time.

But then, who wouldn't want to do that? Meryl is fabulous as ever here - hilarious, sympathetic and completely involved with her character. Her and Uma are, to me, a match made in heaven, and they're given plenty of opportunity to play off each-other. Uma is cute, loveable and also very funny, but for those predicting her for an Oscar nomination (or considering it), I don't think it's gonna happen. Hers is not the kind of role the Academy goes for - it falls through too many of the pitfalls that romantic comedies lay down for their female leads. She finds happiness, she gets hurt, she tries to re-build, and she gets hurt again. The scipt is ultimately what lets her down, because she is fantastic at many points. And because of that, I wouldn't completely rule her out.

The romance between Uma and Greenberg was what made this film something to remember for me. The two stars have great chemistry, I really believed in their passion for each-other, and their dates and exchanges were impeccably written. It's one of those rare cases where you actually want the relationship to work out.


However, if there's one thing everyone would agree on, it's that in romantic comedies, the ending always has to live up to the main helping, or your whole opinion dips. Sadly, Prime doesn't stay afloat. The resolution is a rushed mess, lacking the graceful editing which inhabitated the rest of the film. One main problem is that the first hour-and-a-bit is very funny, bordering on hilarious, but the last half-hour has very few amusing moments, and several tiresome ones.

A second problem is that the ending pretty much alienates Streep, which is why I feel she is supporting - she has almost no presence in the finale of the film. I still feel that she could wrangle a nod though, if there's a lack of good opponents, because she is great and the voters love her. Her character's Jewishness may also work to her advantage, although it is thrust into the audience's face a bit much - for example, in one scene she's casually eating a pastrami sandwhich. It'll annoy you when you see it.

Which you should! Because despite all its problems, Prime is a very funny movie, with excellent performances and a few heartwarming moments. You may not be amazed, but I can pretty much gurantee you'll be entertained.