Ruth and Boaz

Fresh from the imagination of Tyler Perry comes a sweet, modern retelling of the Book of Ruth in Ruth and Boaz.

In this first faith-based film produced by Perry in partnership with Devon Franklin, we meet Ruth (Serayah McNeill) as a rising R&B singer who is uncomfortable with the sexualized costumes and lyrics she is forced to wear and sing. There is much more to this beautiful young singer, but her boyfriend’s mom, Naomi (Phylicia Rashad), only sees the negative when she is dragged along by her son to one of Ruth’s performances. Her first impression is a bad one.

Naomi has no idea the enormous pressure being exerted on Ruth by her sketchy manager, a menacing presence in her life and in the life of her musical duo partner, Breana (Orpah, is that you?).

When Ruth refuses to go along with her manager anymore, she exits her contract, much to her manager’s anger. An act of violence takes the lives of both Naomi’s husband and son, and she is left widowed and penniless. When Naomi decides to go back to her home in Tennessee, Ruth, who has lost her boyfriend and really, everything, hops the bus with her in search of a new life, much to Naomi’s ire.

This odd couple settles into Naomi’s former home, now falling apart, and Ruth finds work at the vineyard owned by Boaz (Tyler Lepley), the son of Naomi’s dear family friend.

At this point, things speed along a little too tidily. Too quickly, Naomi goes from disliking Ruth and grieving her son and husband to nudging along the romance between Ruth and Boaz.

The two fall for each other amid the lush scenery of the vineyard and the Nashville music scene, where Ruth is reluctantly talked into singing again. Viewers know that the other shoe will drop, and the horrid manager will interfere with Ruth’s new start in life, one way or another. When he does, drama escalates and the couple’s budding love is tested.

Rashad’s Naomi anchors the film with her gravitas; you know that woman does not suffer fools! She elevates every scene she is in.

Although I liked this modern retelling, I found myself wishing that the writers had gone deeper with the script. Why is Boaz so perfect? (Although he is in the Bible, too, come to think of it.) He’s like something off the cover of a romance novel. And considering the Bible’s Ruth was from another religion, why was she a Christian in the film?

In the end, because the makers of this film only scratched the surface of the Ruth and Boaz story, viewers are left with a romantic, unpreachy faith-based film with solid acting and gorgeous scenery. For more depth, viewers might want to return to the Book of Ruth and a good commentary. (Tyler Perry Studios, Netflix)