A Price Above Rubies IMDb
I'd seen this film years and years ago, when I was a teenager, living at home, and I remember liking it enough that whenever I would see it come on TV (usually WE or Lifetime would play it) I would turn it on and watch at least half of it.
Starring Renee Zellweger and Christopher Eccelston, with an almost cameo-worthy appearance by Julianna Margulies and directed by Boaz Yakin, this film, released in 1998, is about a devout Jewish woman's rebellion. It's all about how she spreads her wings and learns how to become her own person.
Now, to start off, I know absolutely NOTHING about the Jewish faith. All I know are the stereotypes... the Sylvia Fine's (The Nanny)... so going into this movie I was hoping to get a real honest look at the Jewish faith... whether I did or not, I don't know. I was completely unaware how strict the most devout Jews were about women covering their hair. It's either wear a wig or a scarf over your hair. Show your real hair only to your husband, basically. I had NO idea.
Renee's character, Sonia, has recently become a mother. Her husband, Mendal, is a scholar, a very devout, very religious scholar. Motherhood doesn't seem to suit Sonia. She craves a certain intimacy with her husband that he, flat out, tells her he believes is sinful. She's unhappy, stuck in her marriage, and to top it all off, she's got a screaming baby that she can't stand to really be around. At one point in the film she is speaking to someone and she confides in him that she doesn't know what's wrong with her. That she is hot, all the time, that she feels like there is a fire lit inside her. She says she is so physically sensitive that she cannot breastfeed her child, or put on a shirt because it hurts, it burns. It's obvious that she is longing for intimacy with her husband, but he is not willing, at all. They have a child, that's the end. If they want more children later on.... well... do the mechanics, the end. She tries, over and over again, and others do as well, in the early beginnings of the movie to convince her that her life isn't so bad, that it could be a lot worse. but still, the fire is lit inside Sonia, and that type of fire cannot be extinguished.
Her brother in law, Sender, played by Christopher Eccelston (he's made a career out of playing jerks, bless him), is a jeweler. Sonia's father was a jeweler and taught his daughter everything he knew, but wouldn't let her take over the family business because she was a woman. One night at a family dinner, Sender produces a broach for her to inspect, telling her it cost some outrageous amount of money, like $6,000. She looks at it, and pretty much tells him it's a piece of tin with a cheap colored glass stone.
Not long after that, Sender arrives unannounced to Sonia and Mendel's apartment, offering Sonia, who is home alone, a job as a buyer. She is very gifted in that area after all. The thing of it is, Sender - Mendel's brother - is a cad. Before Sonia can even think, Sender is making his move on her, right there, up against the living room wall, the baby just a few feet away. It s loveless affair for both of them. For Sender, it's conquest, and for Sonia, it fills the physical need, but not the emotional. And let's face it ladies, we are all about the emotion.
Sonia goes to work for Sender and immediately becomes a favorite amongst Sender's clients. One afternoon, while haggling over a ring with a store owner, she comes across a hand crafted 22 karat gold ring. She's amazed at it's beauty, its intricate design and decides she must find who the creator is. The store owner tells her he got it for cheap in Chinatown and was gonna send it out to be melted down. Sonia takes the ring and goes to every shop in Chinatown, until a woman on a park bench wearing similarly designed earrings tells her that there's a guy in her neighborhood that makes what she's looking for.
Ramon works for the above mentioned jewelry store owner and is the designer of the one of a kind ring. Sonia goes to his shop and insists he can sell the items. And honestly, if I were going to believe anyone, I'd believe her. There's an attraction between Ramon and Sonia, but she's still 1) married to Mendel and 2) sleeping with Sender.
Things go from bad to worse when Mendel forgets Sonia's birthday. Pretty soon the entire community, including Mendal's sister Rachel - Julianna Margulies (she's a fantastic actress and is only on the screen for probably 15 minutes all together throughout the length of the film.... I would have loved seeing more of her character) - knows about her attraction to Ramon and consider her job with Sender sinful.
This film requires more than one watch to be truly understood, I think. There's lots going on in this movie, from the affairs, to the job, to her husband, to his family, to the religion, to a story line about Sonia's younger brother who died as a child... but it all flows together so well. That's life, things happen all at once. Women who have been unhappy in their marriage at any point will relate to Sonia, even if we cannot understand exactly how a devout Jew operates. Sometimes there is just something lacking in a marriage and we can definitely line up our stories with Sonia's. Sometimes our husbands are too involved with the ball game to talk to us about our day. I'll be honest, Renee Zellweger's recent films... (not that there are many, she hasn't worked in so long) anything past Cold Mountain (she was astonishing in that movie) I don't really care for. I don't even like the Bridget Jones movies. But this is a movie where I feel she flat out shines. Her speech about the fire inside her is breathtakingly performed. She carries and drives this film effortlessly. Sure, her accent kinda comes and goes a bit, but don't most actors that fake an accent lose it once in a while? Her despair is obvious, and thats what keeps you watching until the end.
If you are interested, here is a link to the trailer on YouTube. This film can be viewed for free on Netflix and is rated R. There is some nudity and a few adult scenes.
While I'm on the subject of Renee Zellweger, I'd like to take a second to talk about my all time favorite Renee film. It's a little seen gem called The Whole Wide World.This movie is beautiful. It's thrilling. It's infuriating. It's romantic. It's sad. It's a masterpiece, and it makes me so sad when people say they haven't seen it. And above all, it's a TRUE STORY!
Renee Zellweger stars as Novalyne Price, a young schoolteacher and aspiring writer in Texas. She is introduced to Robert E. "Bob" Howard, the author of the famous Conan the Barbarian pulp fiction novels, played to the height of perfection by Vincent D'Onofrio. She wants to know how to write, and Bob is a huge success, so she feels like he's the person who's brain she must pick!
Over a little time, Novalyne and Bob become friends, spending lots of time together and pretty soon, it's clear that Novalyne is in love with Bob, and Bob, even though he doesn't have a clue what to do with it, is in love, helplessly, with Novalyne. However, Bob, for lack of a better phrase, is a Mama's Boy. His Mother is very ill and requires all the attention that Bob has aside from writing, and Novalyne is sort of an afterthought.
This film contains what is, in my true opinion, the greatest on-screen kiss to ever happen. I remember watching it with my parents for the first time.... my Dad was so funny, right in the middle of the kiss he jumps up off the couch and shouts "Well Good Lord their lips are gonna be blue by the time they're done! Lord have mercy, y'all take a breath, get some air!" <-- his exact words. He made me pause the movie so he could go get a glass of water after they were done. :)
Because this is a true story, based on Novalyne's memoir The One Who Walked Alone, you don't have to dig too far to know that Bob's life was tragically cut short when he took his own life. Bob Howard was a truly tortured man. Mental illness and creative genius often live in the same body, and too often one or the other will cause the lights to go out, and that's what happened with Bob Howard.
Vincent D'Onofrio practically jumps off the screen. He is a truly, truly gifted actor. He fully embodies all the aspects of Robert E. Howard, the mental instability, the tortured soul, the desire for Novalyne, and the desire to provide every possible comfort for his ailing mother, the creative madness that was Conan the Barbarian... He even twitches around like someone who's skin is too tight, someone who's creative energy is so overwhelming that they constantly move. They twiddle their thumbs, strum their fingers, shake or bounce their feet and legs. Don't ask me how the man got to that place, but God bless him for it. It's a performance that brings everything else to a screeching halt. All you can do is watch him. He's cocky, and arrogant, and desirable, and frustrating, tortured and brilliant all at once. It's a masterpiece power house performance.
The term "can't be tamed" is often tossed around these days, and immediately the Miley Cyrus song pops to mind... but in this instance, Robert E. Howard was one of those people that could not be tamed. To tame the beast would be to kill him. Settling down with Novalyne to raise a family would have been the end of the man. He was simply too much man to survive any way other than how he did.
Renee Zellweger is beautiful in this film. The costumes and hairstyles of the 1930's work so well on her. Her performance mirrors all the emotions that we, as the viewer, feel. If she was frustrated with Bob, which was often easy to do, we were frustrated with Bob. When she loved him, we loved him. The driving force in this film is, without any doubts, Vincent D'Onofrio, but Renee Zellweger definitely helps carry it along in the passenger seat. Renee Zellweger had yet to hit the big time in 1996 when this film was made. In fact, I believe this is the last film she made before heading off to do Jerry Maguire, and we all know how that turned out. Years later in 2004, when she won the Oscar for that amazing performance as Ruby in Cold Mountain she thanked Vincent D'Onofrio in her speech, saying that he'd taught her "how to work" during the filming of The Whole Wide World. As I kept saying she was in A Price Above Rubies she is extremely relatable and normal in this movie. It is easy to watch, and there's a comfort to seeing her on the screen.
This is a MUST SEE film for romantics. It's not a happy ending film, it's one of those "thankful for the experience" films. If you've never been in that place in your life, I don't know that you will love this movie as much as I do. At the end of the film, when we learn of Bob's fate, my Dad was so shook up that he swore he'd never watch the film again, and he never did. It tugged too hard on his heart strings. I truly adore this film and have purchased it on VHS and DVD. It is available on YouTube in it's entirety. I just can't express how much I truly love this movie. It's beyond words.
This film is rated PG!
If you had to choose between these two movies to watch I say DEFINITELY go with The Whole Wide World. It's the best out of the two, hands down.
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