Finding the right mate can be an exhausting ordeal. Finding the mate your parents think is right for you can be even worse. In the urban romance Prime, that’s the plight David Metzger (Bryan Greenberg) faces when he hooks up with an “older woman” --  much older. David, a 23-year-old living with his grandparents, yearns to be a painter. His mother, Lisa (Meryl Streep), is of all things, a therapist who thinks painting is a hobby, not a career, at least for David.

Enter the beautiful and sexy 37-year-old Rafi (Uma Thurman), a recent divorcee and photographer who meets David at an independent movie. The two are in bed practically before the end credits roll. After both lie about their age, Rafi whisks David off to her plush Manhattan apartment.

The two lead actors are very suited to these characters. Thurman is beautiful and fun, which makes it easy to play a similar character. Rafi seems exactly what David needs in his life. An older woman who will take him out of the sheltered family he feels sometimes suffocates him, yet one as exciting and sexy as Rafi, makes it a double jackpot for him.

Rafi, still reeling from the pain of her divorce, sees David as a burst of fresh energy like nothing she’s experienced before. She almost wants to pinch herself each time she thinks about the difference in their ages and why he would want to be with her.

While the two start dating and David actually moves in, Rafi continues to make her weekly visits to her therapist, you guessed it -- Lisa. At first, as Rafi goes into detailed sexual explanations about her new love, Lisa doesn’t realize that the man she’s talking about happens to be her own son. When Lisa finally learns this fact, she’s caught between her moral obligation and personal dilemma.

As the hormones of their relationship settle down, and real life begins anew for the couple, Rafi and David’s differences begin to surface. She’s working hard, he’s unemployed. She likes a clean place, he makes it messy all day leaving beer bottles, clothes and food items strewn about. But these are cosmetic problems. More serious are their differences in their faiths and ages.

Things escalate and soon there’s too little therapy to go around. Lisa knows her son needs guidance but she can’t break her confidence with her patient. Caught in a dilemma, she herself goes for therapy. When she realizes that Rafi and David really love each other, Lisa meets them halfway and invites them both to dinner.

Realizing her biological clock is ticking and that David is still in his prime, Rafi breaks off the relationship. David goes out with his buddy, ties one on, and ends up sleeping with one of Rafi’s co-workers. That’s all Rafi needs to figure out this may not be the relationship for her.

Great performances by Streep, Thurman and Greenberg make us like their characters and keep this plot moving. Streep is top notch at candid humor when she wants to be, and as a nurturing mom who wants to protect her son, she’s perfect. The laughs in Prime keep coming, as do the hopes for someone to have a happy ending.

(Released by Universal Pictures and rated  “PG-13” for sexual content including dialogue, and for language.) 

Read Diana Saenger’s reviews of classic films at http://classicfilm.about.com.