Prime
Universal Pictures | Release Date: October 28, 2005 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
58
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 32 Critic Reviews
Positive:
15
Mixed:
15
Negative:
2
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
A prime example of a solid romantic comedy. Read full review
78
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
You don't have to be Jewish to enjoy this light romantic comedy, but it helps. Read full review
75
Rolling StonePeter Travers
Younger knows it's fun to watch Rafi and David cross lines of age, culture and religion. He also knows it's painful. That's what makes his movie hilarious and heartfelt. Read full review
75
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
There are some one-liners that zing not only with humor but truth. On the whole I was satisfied. Read full review
75
Baltimore SunChris Kaltenbach
Prime serves as yet another showcase for Streep; to prove how expertly she plays a Jewish mother with a Ph.D. in psychology, just imagine Barbra Streisand in the role -- you'd have a farce only a step above slapstick. With Streep, you get a smartly observant comedy that never overplays its hand. Read full review
75
Boston GlobeWesley Morris
Yes, Younger has made an update of the ''shiksa who changed my life" story in ''Annie Hall." But Prime is missing the psychological acuity and scabrous cultural wit of Woody Allen at his best. These lovers meet standing in line to see Antonioni's ''Blow-Up" and never mention the movie. Read full review
75
Miami HeraldConnie Ogle
Prime may have its unlikely moments, but overall its heart is winningly untraditional and in exactly the right place. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
This may sound like Woody Allen - in fact, it often feels like Woody Allen (minus the expected helpings of angst) - but it's not. Prime is from writer/director Ben Younger and, while it's not up to the level of Allen's great romantic comedies ("Annie Hall," "Manhattan"), it's better than anything the acclaimed New York auteur has brought to the screen in recent years. Read full review
70
Los Angeles TimesCarina Chocano
Despite the snappy brilliance of the setup, Prime doesn't entirely deliver on its promise -- something about the way it ends feels like a cop-out, and the opportunities for humor aren't exploited quite as well as they could be. Read full review
70
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
Prime is neither deep nor as shallow as it first threatens to be, but surprisingly good fun.
70
Washington PostDesson Thomson
Sure, this romance, starring Meryl Streep, Uma Thurman and Bryan Greenberg, follows a familiar boy-meets-girl scenario, but Younger turns the routine into combustible fun. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJonathan Rosenbaum
The real revelation here is Streep, who spends every moment comically negotiating her conflicted impulses. Read full review
67
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
Frankly, the most disturbing thing about Prime is that Uma Thurman is now officially an Older Woman. Read full review
63
USA TodayClaudia Puig
Despite its title, Prime is not a cut above. This romantic comedy's predictability and rather dull love story make it the cinematic equivalent of a slightly stale hamburger. Read full review
63
New York PostLou Lumenick
The sort of movie where all of the best jokes are in the trailer, but these days a romantic comedy with anything worth quoting at all is something of an accomplishment. Read full review
60
VarietyRonnie Scheib
Despite a comic Yiddishe mama turn by Meryl Streep and a sensitively nuanced performance by Uma Thurman in a convincing changeup from her recent kickass action roles, Prime remains an oddly juiceless older woman-younger man romance, with a Freudian twist. Read full review
60
The New York TimesDana Stevens
All of this makes the movie pleasant, but not very memorable - a pale mirror image of "Shopgirl," which touches on some similar themes. Read full review
60
SalonStephanie Zacharek
Now that Woody Allen is no longer making acceptable Woody Allen movies, it's surprising we're not seeing more comedies like Prime, a slight but well-meaning picture that strives for the same kind of pleasurably neurotic sophistication that Allen, at his best, used to give us. Read full review
58
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Not one bit of the story tracks. But with these women in these roles, you're asking for truth? Read full review
58
Portland OregonianMike Russell
Unfortunately, this rich story about actual adults takes up maybe a third of Prime. The rest of the time, we're hanging with David and Rafi as they act out relationship cliches. Read full review
50
The A.V. ClubTasha Robinson
Greenberg and Thurman are both engaging, but they can't quite compensate for their characters' shallowness. Streep, on the other hand, just can't stop compensating. Her oy-vey-can-you-believe-the-kid-and-his-shiksa performance is all studied mannerisms with no real heart. Read full review
50
Dallas ObserverRobert Wilonsky
Younger, for whatever reason, simply can't abide their happiness, and so he destructs the relationship from time to time for no reason, using plot devices that wouldn't have been out of place in episodes of "Three's Company." Read full review
50
L.A. WeeklyElla Taylor
On and on drags this amour fou, with its one-liners, ripostes, elaborate misunderstandings and chastened reaction shots, all courtesy of writer-director Ben Younger, straining to let out his inner femme after the testosterone excesses of "Boiler Room." Read full review
50
Chicago TribuneMichael Wilmington
I found nothing likable or funny about either of these characters, who both deserve a pie in the face. (One of them even gets it.) Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
The occasionally amusing, generally fatuous romantic comedy about a dazzling divorcee, a smitten Jewish boy and a controlling Jewish mom who also happens to be the divorcee's psychotherapist, is a high-concept movie with a Yiddish accent. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleRuthe Stein
A romantic saga that dares to ask realistic questions. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam Lacey
Prime seems aimed at prime-time television, with endless iterations on the same theme of "frustrated relationship" that will finally get resolved during sweeps week in the season before cancellation. Call it: My Mama, the Shrink. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineMaitland McDonagh
The film's greatest asset, however, is its unusually authentic use of Manhattan locations: Younger clearly knows New York much better than the topography of the human heart. Read full review
40
Village VoiceBen Kenigsberg
Not quite a romance by numbers, Prime is nevertheless a movie we need like a hole in the head. Read full review
40
EmpireAnna Smith
This has the raw material for a decent rom-com, but the aimless structure and ambiguous tone undermine both humour and romance. Read full review
38
PremiereRyan Devlin
The sheer absurdity of the presented relationship is redeemed by a sort of surprise ending, but by the time it arrives, you wish it had come sooner, as the pain of viewing has already been interminably long. Read full review
25
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
It has the low-budget look and feel of an indie dating comedy -- and not a very good one at that. Read full review
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