A Price above Rubies

REVIEW
Zellweger plays a young Jewish woman who marries a Hasidic scholar, and slowly realizes that her spirit and sexuality are being crushed by her strict, cloistered surroundings. We feel for the woman's plight, but her character, as written by director Yakin and portrayed by a squinty, pouting Zellweger, is more petulant brat than stifled spirit. The fanciful device of Zellweger periodically chatting with her long-dead childhood friend is clunky and unrevealing, and many scenes are cloying, pandering, or just dull. Rubies does have the occasional dramatic moment, it's all topped off with a dippy, featherweight music score.