Movie #927 "Citizen Ruth" I have wanted to watch for a long time --- it's an early endeavor for one of my favorite directors Alexander Payne ("Election," "Descendants," "About Schmidt," "Sideways," and "Nebraska." It was recently mentioned by Laura Dern in an interview on the Today show, and that made me want to know more about this film even more. She is outstanding here --- the film is all her, even though there are a lot of famous people playing small roles in this (Good for you, Mr. Payne, such as Tippi Hedrin, Burt Reynolds, Swoosie Kurtz, and Mary Kay Place). This is a very dark comedy, I must warn, and it tackles with the Abortion issue full force --- but not head on --- it gets across the issue by showing you what the media does by putting pressure on a young girl who doesn't really know what to do with a possible unwanted baby. By tackling the subject, it makes us aware of how a citizen like Ruth can be misused and even abused by the news media that worries more about getting the story, than getting help for someone like her. It is somewhat dated, but then again, the issue isn't, and I found this quite fascinating. But I'm not surprised, since I am a big fan of Mr. Payne's movies and can't wait for the next piece of art!
Citizen Ruth1996R105 minutes I would rate this 3.8 out of 5
In this satirical look at a controversial issue, unfit mother of four Ruth Stoops (Laura Dern) discovers while in jail that she's pregnant again. The judge charges her with endangering the fetus, but tells her he'll reduce the charges if she has an abortion. When word of this gets out, Ruth's caught in the middle of a tug-of-war between anti-abortion and abortion rights activists who want to use Ruth to get their messages across.
- Cast:
- Laura Dern, Swoosie Kurtz, Kurtwood Smith, Mary Kay Place, Kelly Preston, M.C. Gainey, Kenneth Mars, David Graf, Burt Reynolds,Tippi Hedren, Kathleen Noone
- Genre:
- Dark Humor & Black Comedies, Political Comedies, Indie Comedies, Comedy
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