Reviews

The premise of "Prime" is that Meryl Streep plays a Jewish psychologist named Lisa who learns from her 37-year-old Christian patient, Rafi (Uma Thurman), that she is romantically involved with Lisa's son, David, who is 23 (37 and 23 are both prime numbers). Streep then continues to treat Rafi, listening to the details of the couples sexcapades and on-again, off-again romance. If you can buy this premise (and surely it would warrant Lisa facing disciplinary action), then you might like the movie, which is certainly funny enough, for a while.

But as the film drags on, it becomes decreasingly funny and seems to morph into the sad scenes from "When Harry Met Sally," while layering on additional angst about interreligious relationships. Then, it just ends. This is clearly the result of weak direction and an uninspired script.

Streep and Thurman put in good performances, and some of the comic scenes are indeed funny, but when all is said and done, this is a prime disappointment.

I went to see this because at their best, Samuel L. Jackson and Eugene Levy are very likable and watchable actors. Unfortunately, this is not anyone's best--instead it is two actors rehashing old roles (Shaft meets Jim's Dad) in a cliché plot that relies on bathroom humor (peeing in the pool, a cavity search, and repeated bits about flatulence) rather than on any semblance of intelligent screen writing.

In fact, the whole plot around a multi-million dollar arms deal is based on the premise that the only way the arms dealer can identify his supposed buyer is that the buyer has a USA Today newspaper. Gee, that sure narrows it down, especially when meeting in a diner within walking distance of a major hotel. It only gets more stupid from there.

And maybe it's me, but I have trouble with someone (even Samuel L. Jackson) uttering lines like, "If you don't talk, I'm gonna beat you like a runaway slave." This is a bad screenplay being performed by actors who seem like they are phoning it in. When all is said and done, "The Man" should be thrown into the can.

The main reasons to see "Red Eye" are Rachel McAdams, who delivers a stellar performance, and Jayma Mays, who is wonderful as the Assistant Hotel Manager. On the other hand, Cillian Murphy overacts so badly that he becomes cartoonish. The rest of the movie is riddled with plot holes, on which I will elaborate.

Please do not read further if you don't want to know what happens!

Here is a synopsis of the plot. Rachel McAdams's character (Lisa) manages a hotel where the new hard-nosed Homeland Security Director plans to stay that night. Rachel is returning to Miami from a funeral, but fielding calls from her assistant up until the plane leaves. In the meantime, someone is stationed outside the house of her father, Joe (played by Brian Cox), ready to kill him if Cillian Murphy (Jackson) calls. All Lisa has to do is phone the hotel and move the Director's suite to one where Jackson's cohorts are planning to fire a guided missile (from a fishing boat) to kill the Director and his family.

So, here are some of the plot holes or absurd coincidences:

1. Jackson finally convinces Lisa to make the call, and in the middle, the phones in the plane lose their connection. Lisa tries to fake that she is making the call, but coincidentally, a guy across the aisle from Jackson is also making a call and starts banging his phone to indicate it is dead. Jackson catches on and grabs the phone from Lisa.

2. At one point, Jackson head-butts Lisa and she, of course, gets knocked out...but only for 30 minutes.

3. Jackson catches Lisa writing a note on the mirror in the (extraordinarily large) lavatory, and he bangs her around a bit. Miraculously, the only one who hears anything is an 11-year-old girl, whose word, of course, is discounted.

4. Lisa stabs Jackson with a pen in the throat as the plane is landing, steals his cell phone, and makes a mad dash for the exit, fitting down the aisle between the seats and 18 rows of standing passengers. Despite knowing there is a passenger with a pen stuck in his throat, the flight attendants oblige Lisa by opening the door to the jet-way.

5. OK, all those are reasonable (if not highly unlikely). But here's where it gets really stupid. Lisa gets into the terminal at Miami Airport, and there is no cell phone signal (every major airport in America has great cell phone reception).

6. She runs through the airport with Jackson in hot pursuit, and no security officers even delay them.

7. Jackson, who lost Lisa in the Airport while the train from the gates pulled away to the terminal, has lost some of his voice from the pen in his throat, but he can still be somewhat understood. However, he doesn't bother to call his man outside of Joe's house. (PS: There is no train at Miami Airport, but the one they showed looked an awful lot like the Orlando Airport).

8. Lisa steals a car and rides away. Of course this time, when she goes to make a call, the cell phone says "low battery" and soon shuts off (when will they stop using this inane plot device?).

9. While the phone still said "low battery," Lisa had reached her assistant just in time to save the Director and his family from the guided missile launched by the fishing boat to the window of the room on the 40th floor to which the Director had been moved. Of course, they expect us not to notice that the hotel is surrounded on 3 sides by ocean, so the missile could have probably been launched at the first suite, thereby negating the need for the whole Lisa-Jackson plot. What's the story here? Was the Director's original room on the 38th floor one of the only rooms in the hotel with a lousy view? Nevertheless, everyone gets out just before the missile hits.

10. Lisa drives to Joe's house to save her father only to see the killer outside. Although she runs him over (as he is shooting at her) by crashing her Jeep into the house, no one in the neighborhood seems to notice or bother to stop by.

11. Jackson arrives at Joe's house and knocks him out (we don't see how...maybe another head butt). He then explains to Lisa that he didn't kill dad yet because he wanted dad to see Lisa die first (Give me a break. What is this? Saturday morning cartoons?).

12. For the rest of the movie (about 20 minutes), Jackson chases Lisa around the house, and she resourcefully fights him off. Of course a real killer (i.e. one maybe played by Jason Statham) would have done away with Lisa (or for that matter anyone who is not a trained killer) in the first 30 seconds. During the course of this chase, Jackson steps over Joe at least once without bothering to kill him.

13. Finally, Jackson prevails, and he is about to kill Lisa when (you guessed it) he is shot by Joe.

So, here's my suggestion...tell Wes Craven to stick to horror. Or maybe he should get together with Michael Bay (who directed the equally stupid "The Island") and make "Red Island."