Citizen Ruth

source: Citizen Ruth

Alexander Payne, from personal opinion, is a very talented director and writer. With the exception of his recent film 'Downsizing' (his most ambitious film with such a great concept but underwhelming in execution), all his films range from very good to outstanding, especially 'Sideways'. 'Citizen Ruth' was his first full-length film, and while not his best or one of them (perhaps his second or third weakest, 'The Descendants' while still very good is also a lesser effort) there is a lot to admire. 'Citizen Ruth' may lack the viciousness and poignancy of his later and particularly best work, when Payne had properly found his feet and fine-tuned his style, hence why it is not rated as highly as much as them, but his talent for directing and writing for so early on is very much evident. The film is notable for handling a very difficult subject matter (abortion), but uniquely not taking sides and shows both sides of the argument rather than making a judgement on whether it's good or bad. This was a very brave and daring decision and attitude to take, and one that those who have been through it themselves in particular will appreciate and relate with, there is nothing to be offended by. Even with this difficult and sensitive subject, 'Citizen Ruth' manages to be entertaining in a darkly amusing way but doing it tastefully and taking it seriously still. In typical Payne style, it is also very thought-provoking and honest with plenty to say and saying it with tact. Payne directs with skill, even if his direction became more refined later. 'Citizen Ruth' is very nicely filmed, if not one of his most visually beautiful or striking films ('Sideways', 'The Descendants' and especially 'Nebraska' fit this distinction more). The story is compelling and balanced, if not always sharp in pacing in the latter stages. Similarly, Payne gets the best out of his actors. The whole cast are top notch, but this is sensational Laura Dern's, in one of her best and boldest performances, film. Overall, hugely impressive and brave. 8/10 Bethany Cox

This film suggests that it is trying to remain unbiased in the abortion issue, but flagrently fails, as it depicts all pro-lifers as overly zealous Christian hippies with big hair and a pension for stupid acts of violence. I hope someone has enough cojones to make a film from a pro-lifer's point of view, so both sides can be seen in a positive light.

Laura Dern was terrific. She was completely unrecognizable in the first few scenes; this wasn't due to makeup, but because she was so into her character that her face completely changed. The movie itself was quite good; always interesting and fun to watch. But it seemed to peter out rather than end; it felt like they filmed the first two acts but forgot to film the third. It's been a long time since the rolling of the closing credits surpised me so much. It's true that the ending was upbeat, and that it's seems impossible that any continuation of the story would have been happy, but that's no excuse. The ending felt lazy. Still, worth seeing for Laura Dern.

This is a wonderful film with Laura Dern providing a fearless performance as an irredeemable whiffer. The movie does paint a few people with broad strokes, but the strokes are deft and very funny. No one comes across very well in this movie, and there is something to offend everyone here. What a wonderful way to skewer modern society!

This movie is depicted as a light comedy. It is a "dramedy" about the abortion issue. While it portrays the extremes of the abortion debate in a comical manner you can not truly make a comedy of such an emotional and moral issue. If you are looking for a comedy avoid this movie.

This movie is very representative of 90's comedy and 90's journalism where everybody is self-centered, hypocritical, self-righteous, and not too bright. This movies has no heroes, no ideals, and not much in the way of true acting -- that is, actors who actually believe in the characters they are playing. Even in farce, the farce can only be effective when the characters act consistent with the institutions being lampooned. This just takes the shotgun out and goes for everybody and everything and who cares -- a 2-hour Seinfeld episode without Jerry's timing or talents.

In what has got to be one of Laura Dern's most interesting roles, she plays indigent drug addict Ruth Stoops, ordered to have an abortion at the risk of damaging her unborn fetus. That's when she gets taken in by a fundamentalist Christian, right-to-life family who starts using her as a rallying call. But abortion rights activists also see Ruth as a rallying call. Like "Thank You for Smoking", "Citizen Ruth" shows the hypocrisy of both sides in a controversial topic, as they both want to use an individual for their own ends. This movie sort of predicted what would happen to Terri Schiavo almost ten years in advance. Moreover, director Alexander Payne shows the twisted sensibility that he would later bring to "Election", "About Schmidt" and "Sideways". You gotta agree with what Ruth does at the end. Definitely one that I recommend. Also starring Kurtwood Smith, Swoosie Kurtz, Mary Kay Place, Kelly Preston, Kenneth Mars and Tippi Hedren.

Ruth is the most unlikable, selfish human being I have seen portrayed in a movie in a long time. There wasn't one redeeming feature about her and yet she was the only one I was even close to rooting for in this depressing movie. The only character that had a clue about what she really was about was the Viet Nam vet Harlan. The tag line to me was when he told her that they both knew exactly how long the $15,000.00 dollars would last in her hands, about 3 days. Everybody in this movie was unlovable, unyielding and closed minded.