Rating: 
Summary: Oversimplification Of Orthodox Jewish Community
Review: The topic of a person searching for their true identity is a worthwhile one, but this film's portrayal of the Jewish community as a whole left much to be desired. Jewish people are constantly being stereotyped by people who have never even met a Jew, and this film feeds many of those stereotypes. The psychiatrist/rabbi, for example, was a very unfair portrayal. The character of Sonya's husband, too, is a major generalization.
Hopefully viewers of this film will not make sweeping assumptions about Jewish culture because of the way one Hollywood film portrays it.
Rating:
Summary: A Price Below Pennies
Review: There are plenty of better movies from Amazon than this one! I had heard that this movie was an indictment against Hasidic Jewish males and the way their society treats women. Instead the Jewish males in this movie were really good people and were trying to be patient with this woman and all her selfish "needs". I'm afraid she was not a very sympathetic character. She married a man she did not intend to be a real wife to. She belonged to a religion she did not intend to practice. She brought a sweet little son into the world only to abandon him. She would not nurse him and could not bear his cries. She then brought a Hispanic young male into her life only to abandon him too. She used people like kleenex, including her brother in law she was sleeping with to keep her beloved job. A real bad movie and bad main character. My wife agrees with my review completely!
Rating:
Summary: WASTED POTENTIAL
Review: There was a lot more potential here than surfaced. The cast is generally good, with Renée Zellweger fresh off the success of Jerry Maguire and Julianna Margulies (ER) playing a strict and incredibly... cruel and judgmental Jewish woman. The story focuses on the Hasidic Jewish community and the new bride, played by Zellweger. Her husband is studying to become a rabbi and is so engrossed in those studies that their relationship suffers. The relationship also suffers because Zellweger's character is different. She needs something more than just marriage and motherhood to sustain her. She has her own opinions and needs and desires, and she eventually asserts them (after giving birth to a son) as a jewelry appraiser. Her father had been a jeweler (or perhaps he was also an appraiser), and she had a definite gift for this vocation. Her brother-in-law sets her up in the business and even gives her an office, but all conditional upon her engaging in a sexual affair with him, which she does, although not willingly. He will also be her ruin. When she takes an interest in a struggling artist and jewelry designer (I am not sure who he was, and this is when the story starts down a path that really went on too long and did not fit the spirit of the picture) the brother-in-law tells the rest of the family that Zellweger is having an affair with this artist. While the film is far from being perfect, Zellweger does a good job here in a role that is completely not something one would expect from her.
Rating: 
Summary: A performance above rubies
Review: This movie is centred around the thoughts and passions of an Orthodox Jewish Woman named Sonia (portrayed brilliantly by Renee Zellweger), who is less than enamoured with her people's strict rules and regulations. Sonia's fiery character seems to be totally incompatible with that of her husband's (Mendel), who is an erudite Torah Scholar. From the very beginning of the movie Sonia questions the practices of Orthodox Judaism e.g. an early scene where she is a little skeptical about the ritual of circumcision. When Sonia's brother-in-law finds out that she is a gifted gemologist/jeweler, he offers her a job selling jewelry for him. Unfortunately, he offers her more than just the job, and due to the fact that her husband neglects her sexual needs, she succumbs. She finds an escape from the everyday burdens of being a subservient Jewish woman through the jewelry trade (and through her brother-in-law). Unfortunately, she still doesn't find freedom, as she now becomes the slave of her brother-in-law. The movie progresses with Sonia entering a downward spiral (or upward spiral depending on what you believe) from being a pious wife to an independent, critical thinking woman. However, through a remarkable set of events she triumphs by finding the one thing she wants most: freedom. The movie is at times surreal i.e. Sonia's encounters with ghostly figures, however these scenes do not detract from the plot in any way. Renee Zellweger is excellent in this movie. The fiery scenes between Sonia and the leaders of the Jewish establishment are priceless. However, it is easy to see why many Orthodox Jews would find this movie a little controversial. It depicts the Hassidic movement as being inflexible, archaic and illogical. It definitely doesn't focus on its good points, but then again if it did the director probably wouldn't have had an audience.
Rating: 
Summary: Very high price of individual freedom
Review: What a movie! At the end I had goosebumps and was trying hard to hold back the tears. What a fantastic performance by RZ! The movie starts off as a slow-as-molasses slice-of-life story about an orthodox Jewish family in NYC. But it ends as the heroic struggle of a Jewish woman yearning to be free -- free of paternalistic controls, free to decide on her own fate, free to pursue beauty in life, a rebellious street-smart and hard-headed woman who wants to be free enough even to judge the wisdom of God, an ultimate heresy for the social milieu she was raised up in. She goes through hell, but at the end she hangs on to her dear freedom. And that has a "price well above rubies" and diamonds. RZ is a star! She is burning with talent and heart.
Rating:
Summary: What price is self worth?
Review: What journey this woman makes. I saw this film at a very difficult time in my life--at my own divorce. In many ways, Renée Zellweger's character may as well have been me. I cried rivers of tears. Her portrayal of strength, and her awakening self worth was such an inspiration to me. She gave up all she knew to be true to herself--a very high price that not all of us are willing to pay. Some of us prefer to stay on a life that is near hell, rather than trust ourselves. We must realize that we are all saints and sinners. Fabulous acting, a great score, and a wealth of three dimensional characters make this a film well worth owning. A real gem.
Rating: 
Summary: costume jewelry without style
Review: Zellweiger, like a dozen other 2nd-tier actresses feels compelled to act out the fantasy of a woman forced to live the life of extreme Orthodoxy. The characters in this movie are nothing but cookie-cutter charicatures of good and evil. The ending strains even the most fertile imagination as our creative, free-spirited heroine loses custody of her baby because she forgets to light Sabbath candles -- come on now!!
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