Prime

Set in Manhattan, Prime follows a successful, career oriented woman who has built a life around deadlines, prestige, and independence. Her orderly world is disrupted when a charming young painter enters the picture and begins pursuing her with a mix of sincerity and risk. What starts as flirtation soon complicates the equation as she learns that he is the son of her longtime psychoanalyst. The situation forces her to question her assumptions about age, desire, and the boundaries of professional distance. Warm, witty, and occasionally provocative, the film explores how attraction can upend carefully laid plans without destroying them. The city itself offers a witty backdrop, punctuating their tension with late night conversations and sidewalk encounters. The city mirrors them.

Directed by Ben Younger, Prime is an original screenplay released in 2005. The film pairs Uma Thurman with Meryl Streep, supported by Bryan Greenberg, Jon Abrahams, and Zak Orth, delivering crisp dialogue and urban humor anchored in New York life.

Prime earned about 67.9 million worldwide against a 22 million budget, marking a solid midrange result for a drama comedy with adult themes. Its performance helped showcase mid budget prestige projects bridging romance and wit that resonated with urban viewers.

While not a cultural blockbuster, Prime found a niche audience that appreciates rom coms grounded in adult issues. It highlights the contrast between Thurman and Streep, contributing to a wave of films that mix romance with smart dialogue and real world stakes. It helped normalize stories about romance in life.

Critical responses praised the film for its intelligent tone and strong performances, especially Thurman and Streep. The main themes center on balancing ambition and affection, how power shapes dating, and the role of therapy and class in modern romance, all delivered with a confident urban voice and clarity for audiences.