***SPOILERS**** Movie about the Brooklyn Boro Park Jewish Hasidic community that stretches creditability to the point where it ceases to be believable. The film is about a rebellious young Hasidic women Sonia Horowitz, Renee Zeilweger,who emotionally destroys almost every one that she comes in contact with from the Grand Rebbe Moshe, Jon Randolph, to her helpless husband Mendel, Glenn Fitzgerald, with her ideas about life and religion. Sonia does this to the point where she's practically run out of the neighborhood of Boro Park by the very people, the Hassidim, who at first welcomed and accepted her as one of their own. Even her own mother not offering Sonia any support or allowing her to stay at her home when she phoned for help.
Actress Renee Zeilweger is very believable as a Hasidic woman at first but when we see her change and become somewhat of a "free soul" she become a bit ridicules. The only logical explanation I can come to for her actions is that the birth of her son Shimmie and the stress of taking care of him under the difficult conditions of the Hasidic life-style. A life-style that pushed her off the deep end and caused her to have a serious emotional breakdown.
What surprised me about Sonia is that you see her in the beginning of the movie as a little girl and she seemed as detached from religion, Jewish or otherwise. How could she then as a young women marry a Hasidic man, Mendel Horowitz, and not know what would be in store for her?
Mendel is a fine teacher and Torah scholar at the local Yeshiva, Jewish religious school,and is looked highly upon by his students and friends to become a major leader in the Hasidic community. It's Sonia's rebellious that slowly pulls him down to the point where he becomes a basket case. Mendel becomes so depressed that he's almost at the point later in the film to be committed.
There's also a sub-plot in the movie involving Mendel's older brother Sender, Christopher Eccleston. Sender at first gives Sonia a job at his jewelry establishment in both Boro Park and the 47th street diamond district in midtown Manhattan but also forces himself on her. Sader has a secret affair with Sonia to the point where he keeps a secret apartment in Manhattan to continue it.
Sonia proves to be a real tough cookie in dealing with crooks and chiselers in the jewelry and diamond business. Confronting them with their illegal practices and forcing them to give her as much as an 80% discount on their products, the real stuff not the phony baloney, or else she'll report them to the authorities. Sonia later develops a relationship with Ramon Garcia, Allen Payne, who worked for one of these jewelry crooks Hrundi Kapoor, Faran Tahir. Romans work really impressed Sonia and later falls in love with to the shock and horror of her Hasidic friends and neighbors.
It's very hard at first to muster up any sympathy for Sonia since not only does she cheat on her husband with Ramon not Sender who she was in no way in love with. It was Sender not her who started and continued the affair. Also Sonia's her love for her son rang a bit hollow as she neglected little Shimmie to the point where he had to stay with one of her Hasidic neighbors Rachel, Julianna MaGulies. With Sonia never at home to care for him. Mendel was also out in him being too busy teaching and studying the Mishna, Jewish holy Books, at the synagogue. This gave Mendel almost no time at all to look after Shimmie at the same time putting the entire care and attention of the infant all on poor Sonia's shoulders. With all this going on you can fully understand the situation that she found herself in and how it completely overwhelmed her.
Mendel came across far more sympathetic in the movie only because he actually seemed more destroyed emotionally by what was happening. Mendel came across as almost being Brain-dead or unconscious which didn't gain him too many points with the audience. To Mendel's credit in the end he did pull himself together and took Shimmie home and cared for him by himself without the help of the almost always absent Sonia. It was also Mendel, together with Sonia, who in the end of the movie almost came to an understanding about the difficulties of their marriage and how he realized, like she did, that their marriage was at an end. Both agreeing to both go their separate ways. Parting with Sonia Mendel gave her a present a ruby, Sonia's birth stone, that he forgot to buy her for her birthday since he forgot her birthday.
The movie "A Price Above Rubies" wasn't as bad as most reviews on it say it is. The acting was much better then average and there were times where it hit you right in the heart and moved you. The film was just too over-the-top in regard to the supposed excesses of the Brooklyn Hasidic community it its treatment of a somewhat wayward, from their strict religious practices, young woman. Interesting at first but after a half hour or so it just bogged down to where it became an unending TV sitcom about a dysfunctional American family but without any humor or laughs in it.
Actress Renee Zeilweger is very believable as a Hasidic woman at first but when we see her change and become somewhat of a "free soul" she become a bit ridicules. The only logical explanation I can come to for her actions is that the birth of her son Shimmie and the stress of taking care of him under the difficult conditions of the Hasidic life-style. A life-style that pushed her off the deep end and caused her to have a serious emotional breakdown.
What surprised me about Sonia is that you see her in the beginning of the movie as a little girl and she seemed as detached from religion, Jewish or otherwise. How could she then as a young women marry a Hasidic man, Mendel Horowitz, and not know what would be in store for her?
Mendel is a fine teacher and Torah scholar at the local Yeshiva, Jewish religious school,and is looked highly upon by his students and friends to become a major leader in the Hasidic community. It's Sonia's rebellious that slowly pulls him down to the point where he becomes a basket case. Mendel becomes so depressed that he's almost at the point later in the film to be committed.
There's also a sub-plot in the movie involving Mendel's older brother Sender, Christopher Eccleston. Sender at first gives Sonia a job at his jewelry establishment in both Boro Park and the 47th street diamond district in midtown Manhattan but also forces himself on her. Sader has a secret affair with Sonia to the point where he keeps a secret apartment in Manhattan to continue it.
Sonia proves to be a real tough cookie in dealing with crooks and chiselers in the jewelry and diamond business. Confronting them with their illegal practices and forcing them to give her as much as an 80% discount on their products, the real stuff not the phony baloney, or else she'll report them to the authorities. Sonia later develops a relationship with Ramon Garcia, Allen Payne, who worked for one of these jewelry crooks Hrundi Kapoor, Faran Tahir. Romans work really impressed Sonia and later falls in love with to the shock and horror of her Hasidic friends and neighbors.
It's very hard at first to muster up any sympathy for Sonia since not only does she cheat on her husband with Ramon not Sender who she was in no way in love with. It was Sender not her who started and continued the affair. Also Sonia's her love for her son rang a bit hollow as she neglected little Shimmie to the point where he had to stay with one of her Hasidic neighbors Rachel, Julianna MaGulies. With Sonia never at home to care for him. Mendel was also out in him being too busy teaching and studying the Mishna, Jewish holy Books, at the synagogue. This gave Mendel almost no time at all to look after Shimmie at the same time putting the entire care and attention of the infant all on poor Sonia's shoulders. With all this going on you can fully understand the situation that she found herself in and how it completely overwhelmed her.
Mendel came across far more sympathetic in the movie only because he actually seemed more destroyed emotionally by what was happening. Mendel came across as almost being Brain-dead or unconscious which didn't gain him too many points with the audience. To Mendel's credit in the end he did pull himself together and took Shimmie home and cared for him by himself without the help of the almost always absent Sonia. It was also Mendel, together with Sonia, who in the end of the movie almost came to an understanding about the difficulties of their marriage and how he realized, like she did, that their marriage was at an end. Both agreeing to both go their separate ways. Parting with Sonia Mendel gave her a present a ruby, Sonia's birth stone, that he forgot to buy her for her birthday since he forgot her birthday.
The movie "A Price Above Rubies" wasn't as bad as most reviews on it say it is. The acting was much better then average and there were times where it hit you right in the heart and moved you. The film was just too over-the-top in regard to the supposed excesses of the Brooklyn Hasidic community it its treatment of a somewhat wayward, from their strict religious practices, young woman. Interesting at first but after a half hour or so it just bogged down to where it became an unending TV sitcom about a dysfunctional American family but without any humor or laughs in it.