a well intentioned movie about sonja horowitz ( renée zellweger ) and the wife of devout talmudic scholar mendel ( glenn fitzgerald ) . who be deeply unhappy . mendel brother sender ( christopher eccleston ) see this and hire her to work in the field in which she already an expertjewelry . he also start an affair with her and and then when she spend time with a puerto rican artist and he dump her and betray her to the family and which shut her out . there a subplot in which sonja dead brother talk to her and and apparently take the form of a magical beggar woman and but why be not clear . much be not clear and unfortunately and include what be go on with sonja and why she tell the rebbe there a fire inside her and maybe it not from god and and what this mean and and what the magical beggar woman tell her mean . to an extent the story touch on the plight of woman in the ultra orthodox community and and yet sonja be not exactly liberate . nor be the notion of be redeem by the love of a man of another race very well think out . the title come from the biblical definition of the worth of a good womanand yet it the bastard sender who quote it to sonja . zellweger struggle with the part while she suppose to be a jew from the mid west and sometimes her accent be flat and and at other time it take on the characteristic sound of brooklyn . she at her best when she be tough and take charge and but ultimately the movie a mess .