The Book of Ruth, Journey of Faith

The story of Ruth certainly is one of a woman who was lead through a perplexing journey. Her mother in law, Naomi, truly had a perplexing journey as well in her part of the story. These two women in Bible history are an encouragement today as their story was then, that God will guide us in the right path to bless us as He sees fit, and to bring us closer to Him, and His people.
First off, I've been ill again with fatigue (why I've really not blogged lately), so I've been sitting at the computer for short bursts and have hoped to write these reviews for a while. I think I can focus long enough at the moment to finally give a blog review of this movie justice, now though...
My dear hubby and I watched this movie together, and just today I watched it again on my own to form more of my own opinion for this review. When we watched it together we had our iPhones out next to us and were skimming the book of Ruth at the same time as watching it. As I reflect, I think that may have tainted things a bit. At times it seemed glaring where creative license was used to make this a movie easily grasped by any age, and modernized. But with watching it again just to purely enjoy it as the love story it is I think the script works.
Knowing that this wasn't a big movie company who put this out I tried to view it like I would an independent film. - Based on the chemistry of the actors and the quality of the plot. The acting greatly depended on who was on screen at any given time. It did feel like the more major rolls were confident in their parts, but some of the lesser characters seemed stiff or flat. Sherry Morris, the woman who played Ruth, certainly shows the strength and emotions Ruth must have felt. Her portrayal of dedication to Naomi was believable, and really made me want to continue to see how she would turn from being so determined to stand by Naomi's side, to falling in love with & marrying Boaz, leaving behind her mother-in-law.
The chemistry between Ruth and Boaz was fun, though often times the other actors distracted from this part of the story. Still, the main characters shone enough to want to see how things would play out in this telling of the Bible story. Carman, who played Boaz is an energetic and engaging personality, and that really worked for the man of power that Boaz was. It made for a character both with leadership & emotion.

The sets felt limited, though I appreciated how often they used outside space in the film. I felt this helped to keep the viewer from feeling too claustrophobic during the indoor scenes.
The sound quality was very uneven. And a couple times I would have liked to have the option to turn on subtitles, but none are available. This to me was disappointing, and I feel for those with hearing issues this will make enjoying the film hard.
The costuming was simple, and I felt that really worked. The colors all complimented the actors well, and spoke of their rolls.
Overall I would rate this film 4 starts out of 5. For quality of film it would be closer to 2 or 3 stars, but the story is one I love, and I have enjoyed watching it through twice already, and willingly will watch it again in the future, so pairing that with my enjoyment of the three main characters of Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz I raise the score up to a 4.
Because their is no foul language, the story of love is pure, and the example of God's provision is clear, I feel this movie is safe for any age. Though I'm not sure it would hold the attention of very young children.
As with any movie version of Bible stories I would make caution to not put ones understanding of what is on screen before that of what is clearly in scripture. As I said earlier, some creative license was used to bring this store to film. However, I feel this is a good telling to introduce the story and discuss it as a family or church group.
Their is an on-line study guide that can be downloaded from Pure Flix to go along with this movie. It is in PDF format.
Release date: December 15, 2009
Price from Pure Flix is currently: $19.95
Rating: is G.
Synopsis provided by Pure Flix
The Book of Ruth, is a triumphant love story in the face of adversity.
This selfless journey of love and devotion is seen through the eyes of a young widow. Choosing to leave her homeland of Moab, she follows her mother-in-law Naomi to Israel after the death of her husband. Upon reaching Bethlehem, she meets and marries a man named Boaz, who is of the Royal House of Judah. This chain of seemingly unrelated events, sets the stage for the future kings of the nation of Israel, and the glorious coming of the Messiah.
A Biblical Cinderella story from the archives of the royal Jewish bloodline, this story reveals the redemption of their inheritance through the child Obed, who was the grandfather of King David.
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Labels: Bible, movies, review, scripture, the book of ruth, YouTube



































