Awwwww! Prime director Ben Younger joins proud parents Howard and Phyllis at his film's premiere Thursday night (Photos: STV)

The Reeler had a chance Thursday to catch up with filmmaker Ben Younger, whose new comedy Prime premiered at Midtown's Ziegfeld Theater. It would have been enough to just ask about a particular 180-degree switch in his career--from directing a wrecking crew like Vin Diesel, Giovanni Ribisi, Ben Affleck and others in his underrated debut Boiler Room to guiding two of contemporary cinema's iconic leading ladies, Meryl Streep and Uma Thurman, through Prime. ("Meryl's tougher than Vin Diesel," he told me. "And Uma is tougher than Ben Affleck." Oh, snap.)

Anyway, all this would have been great, but all bets were off when Younger's parents showed up at the end of the red carpet with their camcorder and digital camera. It was by far the cutest thing I had seen at a premiere since... um... Monday.

Which got me wondering: After making his name with two respectable New York films, is Younger on his way to becoming an exclusively New York guy?

Well, yes and no. "I live here, I make movies here," Younger said. "The next movie takes place in Mexico, but I just shoot where it takes place. I'm not trading Canada for New York, or Bulgaria for Los Angeles."

His response was a little more cryptic when I asked if his New York films were a product of necessity or design. "That's happened, but that's more because it's where I'm from and I've been telling stories that are closer to my heart. Now I'm sort of getting out."

And by "getting out," he indeed means late-1800s Mexico for the film 17 Bullets. Younger did not write it, and evidently no one is yet attached to star. And before I could get any more information, he and his folks swept into the theater like a family at the front of the line for an amusement park ride. Lovely.

Prime star Uma Thurman does a fly-by

Oh, and speaking of lovely, did I mention Uma Thurman was there? But Columbia University President Robert Thurman was not there with his DVcam, so that was no fun at all.