Citizen Ruth
| Citizen Ruth | |
|---|---|
Original film poster
|
|
| Directed by | Alexander Payne |
| Produced by | Cary Woods Cathy Konrad Andrew Stone Michael Zimbrich |
| Written by | Alexander Payne Jim Taylor |
| Starring | Laura Dern |
| Music by | Rolfe Kent |
| Cinematography | James Glennon |
| Edited by | Kevin Tent |
| Distributed by | Miramax Films |
|
Release date
|
|
|
Running time
|
102 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $3,000,000 (estimated) |
| Box office | $285,112 |
Citizen Ruth is a 1996 comedy film written by Jim Taylor and Alexander Payne. The film is the directorial debut of Payne. It stars Laura Dern in the title role of a poor, irresponsible and pregnant woman who unexpectedly attracts attention from those involved in the debate about the morality and legality of abortion.
The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 1996. It later opened in limited release in the United States on December 13, 1996. As of 2015, Citizen Ruth remains the only film directed by Alexander Payne not nominated for any Academy Awards.
The movie opens with Ruth Stoops and a man (apparently an ex-boyfriend) having intercourse on a bed in a flophouse, after which he disrespectfully throws her out of the apartment. She later goes to a hardware store to buy patio sealant and huffs it in a paper bag in an alley to get high. Ruth is portrayed as a dumb, inebriated addict, capable of doing nearly anything to get money or drugs.
Ruth has 4 kids, all of whom have been taken from her custody by the state because of her inability to care for them (or even for herself). Her kids are scattered among three different homes. Ruth goes to the home of her brother and sister-in-law to sneak a look at two of her kids and to beg her brother for money.
After Ruth is arrested for her continuing drug use, she learns that she is pregnant again. At her arraignment, she learns to her horror that she is facing felony charges; her many earlier arrests had all been on misdemeanor charges. The judge, who knows of the situation with Ruth's other offspring, suggests to her after the hearing that he will deal with her less harshly if she has an abortion. Through a chance encounter with a group of jailed abortion protesters, Ruth soon finds herself at the center of an escalating battle between people on both sides of the abortion issue. Both sides engage in deceitful tactics to influence Ruth's decision. The pro-life people run a fake abortion clinic, where they actually seek to dissuade patients from receiving the advertised service. The pro-choice people have "spies" in the pro-life group who spirit Ruth away.
...
Wikipedia