Fresh and Exciting

Excellent but underrated film

Excellent adaptation.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

When I was 13 years old a version of The Book Of Ruth came out with Stuart Whitman, Tom Tryon and Elana Eden in 1960. Eden was in the title role and the two men played her husband. It was a scaled down DeMille like production replete with bible quotations and a bit of sex thrown in just to show what you're giving up. Ruth if I recall was a Moabitess temple girl and that Moab crowd liked to live good.Poetical verses from King James with a little sex was always good to sell a biblical film, a tried and true formula. But in The Book Of Ruth: A Journey Of Faith there's no sex and the people speak like they could be from anywhere be it Chillicothe or Cheektowaga. Sherry Morris is certainly no Elana Eden in the sex appeal department. Peggy Wood was Naomi the mother-in-law that Ruth decides to stick with and make the journey to Israel with. She was light years better than Eleese Lester.But Boaz the second husband is played here by Christian entertainer Carman Licciardello. He plays him like the Las Vegas lounge singer he was before Carman took up fundamentalist Christianity. Who told this guy he could act?The film was produced by fundamentalist Christians and the parameters of their religion made filming this impossible to do in an entertaining fashion. The acting is terrible, the direction is static and the whole pace slow and boring.This will be good for Sunday school and little else.

I'm giving this film a 3 out of 10 because of the effort which I believe must have been put forth in making this production. In a word, the film is awful. A noble attempt, but flawed and failed. It could have been worse--the costumes could have been blatantly incorrect and the acting could have been a little worse, and the dialogue perhaps even more fake. But not much worse. The main actors each have a moment or two were they finally seem to shine as actually being into the part (the actor who played Boaz was, in my opinion, the most believable in the film), but most of the time they trudge along plainly reciting their lines, seeming to only go through the motions. The plot is very plain and the acting is dry. The most basic and boring scenes are hopelessly drawn out. The dialogue seems very contrived and often downright cheesy. Perhaps if the characters seemed to actually be feeling the emotions and if they had the experience, feelings, and action to back it up, they could convey these lines believably. But they cannot. The film absolutely lacks emotion and interest. It's only redeeming factor might be the character of Boaz, whose performance (and delivery) does add a slight bit of humor among the shoot-me-now lines. Eleese Lester (playing Naomi) is also notable for having perfectly portrayed the oh-so-kind and sweet, sacrificial motherly love of her character; she actually reminds me very much of someone I know; but still we never really see the deep source of her kind spirit, and we never really connect with the inner life of her character. The voice-overs of her thoughts, perhaps meant to correct this deficit, only seem cheap and laughable. Besides this, all of the characters (and even the dialogue and plot, at times) seem very Americanized. It looks like a bunch of modern Americans trying to play the parts and act like these people from the stories they've heard, and trying to do the things that they've been told. Not good.Besides that, the audio quality is quite poor throughout the film, particularly during the outdoor scenes. If they couldn't get quality audio to begin with, then they should have at least gone back and dubbed the dialogue in a studio afterwards; even if it had then been slightly unsynchronized, it almost certainly would have been more bearable than the final results the audience is forced to sit through. The film's photography manages to be mostly decent, except for a few sunspots (lens flare). While there can certainly be artistic purpose for sunspots, they don't do any favors here (and probably not in any other period film) as they only draw attention to fact that there is a camera there, and thus modern technology. The only appropriate place for sunspots in a film like this might be in a scenic sweep of the landscape, but as Ruth begins her journey they are very prominent and nearly covering her face as she speaks. Aside from that, the costuming seems just a little off to me, not quite authentic, but perhaps I'm wrong..The film was certainly a noble dream by those involved, but its realization has not done it justice; this dream has not survived the journey to the waking world--at least, not without being significantly butchered.

Are there more exciting stories in the Bible? Definitely. But those who complain about the lack of excitement are missing the point. This is a love story, one of the most beautiful love stories of all time. The love of Ruth for her mother in law and the love of Boaz for Ruth. At first, I too, was surprised at the age of Naomi- until I remembered in Biblical times most girls were married off by the age of 15 many by the age of 13, so a woman could be a mother in law by the time she was 27! I highly recommend this story to anyone who wants to see a well told Bible story. The only complaint I had was the modern language they used some times but that was minor. ALL young women should see this show when they get married to remind them of how a daughter in law should treat her mother in law.

The movie told of a journey of faith of two women. The love and faith they had for a God they could not see was warm. There were moments where things were questioned but, in the long run, their hearts still followed after God.To me, it was a journey of faith just to get the movie made from the first draft of the script down to the last clip of the film. The entire journey took much longer and much thought than most high dollar films and turned out better as well. Don't stand there mocking the "Ancient of Times" when you don't understand what you can read... hold in your hand.Fred Griffith was good in the role of Mahlon. Rebecca Holden could not have done a better job in the role of Beth unless she was Beth. Sherry Morris was excellent as Ruth... always giving... following without question, always in support of her mother-in-law Naomi. Eleese Lester was perfect for the role of Naomi... You found yourself crying with her as well as laughing. Dan Haggerty was on a grand scale as Simeon. Lana Wood was exceptional in her role as Tani. Then there is DJ Perry as Benjamin... (there was one scene that I wanted to knock him out) a very believable talent in that role. Carmen made Boaz come to life once again. Christopher Flores was a grand young David - future King of Isreal. Eli was played by Russ Stine. It was the second final role of his life, his first was that as family man and friend. Rest peacefully in the arms of God... you have well earned it.The entire cast did a class job in portraying the characters they were given. Even those I didn't mention. Job well done y'all...God bless y'all in everything you do...