Citizen Ruth

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Jorge C 04/12/2024 Jamás pense ver a Laura Dern de esa manera. See more 02/19/2022 A movie about a woman who struggles with addiction and just found to be pregnant in a small town. She faces the conflicting pressures between pro life and pro choice groups. The movie chooses to sit in between these two movements, and in a satirical way, equating them. It's full of interesting and quirky characters that brighten the movie. In the end the insinuation that no one really cares about this girl, and likewise she doesn't care about anyone else. The movie is generally flat, perhaps for lacking a string point of view. It's neither here nor there. See more 12/13/2021 Citizen ruthful or ruthless? Laura Dern, the late Burt Reynolds, the late Kelly Preston, and Tippi Hedren in Alexander Payne's directorial debut Dern is Ruth Stoops, a troubled young woman who's had several pregnancies and never claimed any of the children She's been arrested 16 times and her kids were seized each time Her only solace is getting high on spray paint fumes being declared mentally unstable She's very self-destructive to herself and to others Once the court gives her a felony charge endangering her most recent fetus the judge gives her the choice of abortion for a reduced sentence Then it all becomes a tug of war of sorts when Ruth becomes a media sensation; she's caught i between members of pro-choice activism and Evangelicals What makes this interesting is the film being an equal-opportunity offender" film, and why the recent Texas abortion ban lends its fresh relevance Some things are more important than money, sending a message might be bigger than our pride or selfishness, a woman should have her choice to consider, everyone is so caught up in their own horrors, opinions, and judgement Dern gives one of the best performances of her career and there's plenty of black satire When it comes to the ending it's still an on-going debate Yeah the movie lacks a sharp point of view but the viewer can still laugh off taking aim at the subject's irreverence A good but not great start for Alexander Payne taking a bite out of politics See more 01/05/2018 Pitch perfect satire that leaves no side unscathed. Definitely a prime Female Anxiety Movie. Ruth is caught in the middle of a tug-of-war of lofty ideals, but the movie itself thankfully never abandons her - I felt strangely touched by the scene where she's about to get into the helicopter and then screams at her mother about being molested as a child. It was done as an almost comedy beat but the impact was more of an "oh shit" moment. She's a pretty terrible person but at least she has reasons for it. She's far more realistic than the caricature she's painted by both the freaky fundamentalists and the granola pro-choicers. The only downside to watching this movie is having to sit through the same arguments we've heard ad nauseum for decades. The second the movie hunkers down in the trenches it becomes pretty predictable... which isn't to say it's not enjoyable, but like you just gotta be in the mood to want to get angry about politics if you watch this. Oh and Laura Dern is perfection. See more 12/26/2017 A masterful piece of satire whose specific milieu is the 'abortion wars' , but which could apply to anything in American life these days. Laura Dern gives a fantastically unsympathetic performance as a woman who knows what she wants - and what she wants is drugs. This is the rare comedy that has improved with age. See more 05/15/2016 Brilliant director Alexander Payne brings us his first feature film, tackling the very sensitive topic of abortion. As with all his other features, Payne gives us a heavy mix of pitch black humor and social commentary. A young drug addicted woman, played by Laura Dern, discovers that she's pregnant and finds herself being manipulated by both the pro-life and pro-choice people. There's definitely some interesting ideas here. Both sides are equally lampooned and provide plenty of opportunities for some decent humor. With that said however, these ideas don't appear to go much further than a surface level mockery. There's no really deep conversations going on and that's unfortunate considering Payne's other films have a knack for subtle but genuine insight. Now this would be fine if the characters were interesting but this leads to another issue: Laura Dern. For an actress who always turns in such wonderful work, it's a shame that she never quite finds her mark. She goes over the top a little too often and it's never very convincing. Fortunately for her, the supporting players (including Kurtwood Smith and Swoosie Kurtz) pick up the slack and make it work. Citizen Ruth is a mixed bag for sure. It has moments of great comedy and some fun performances, but it never truly reaches its potential. See more Read all reviews

Citizen Ruth

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