Ava DuVernay finds a terrifically promising premise—the world of a prisoner’s wife—but only gets half-way to reaching its potential. Ruby Murray (Emayatzy Corinealdi) drops out of medical school to provide all possible support when her husband, Derek (Omari Hardwick), gets an eight-year sentence for an initially unnamed crime; four years later, nearing Derek’s parole date, Ruby still struggles with the consequences of the choices she made. DuVernay finds some great moments in the performances and camaraderie between Ruby and other prison wives on the way to their visits; she writes solid dialogue, including what may be the smoothest pickup line I’ve ever heard in a film. What’s missing is enough context for Ruby’s devotion, parceled out in hints about her family history and only snippets of her pre-prison life with Derek. Too many characters feel at least one more re-write away from being fully realized; the late use of a narrated letter winds up feeling like an acknowledgment that there were things that we should understand about Ruby, but never got in a less obvious way. (Scott Renshaw)
