Cheap Citizen Ruth (DVD) (Laura Dern, Swoosie Kurtz, Kurtwood Smith, Mary Kay Place) (Alexander Payne) Price

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Customer Reviews of Citizen Ruth

Laura Dern is outstanding in her role as the dim and drugged Ruth Stoops, utterly oblivious to the issues and to those who want only to use her to achieve their own ends. Ruth could care less about a "cause" --all she wants is money and a way to get high.

This movie points out the absolute disrespect that zealots who blindly follow a "cause" have for individual rights and free choice. They see everything in black-or-white and have no room for others' thoughts and just feel the need to control others' lives. To Payne's credit, however, there is no good side or bad side in this movie, and no pat ending either.

There is a lot of truth covered over by humor in this movie, and many things said that could never have been voiced in a more conventional film. It shows, among other things, how the more bizarre extremists actually do damage to the causes they want to promote.

Thought-provoking.

A delicate balance of dark humor and social satire
Finally, the DVD! And right after I find a used VHS copy!
Although silly (well, preposterous, really) and full of unlikeable, broadly painted characters, "Citizen Ruth" does cause the viewer to examine their stance on the abortion issue, no matter which side you currently take. "Provocative" is the single most used adjective in reviews for this movie, but few others are as descriptive. Well, maybe "controversial".
Ruth Stoops is an irresponsible, clueless, paint-huffing tramp who, while in police custody, learns she's pregnant again (she's had children taken away from her by the state already). Hardly in the position to think for herself, Ruth is used as a pawn for the causes of both the pro-lifers and pro-choicers. The situations escalate to bizarre proportions, but what the script does is take the opportunity to skewer all viewpoints. The film is labeled as a comedy (a damn black one), which is hard to see on first viewing. Once you warm up to it, it gets funnier.

Laura Dern gives one of her all-time best performances here as Ruth. Dern's career is wildly uneven, for every "Citizen Ruth" or "Ramblin' Rose" there's a "Jurassic Park" or "Perfect World" (though the latter two were examples of miscasting or bad story or direction). Her portrayal as Ruth accomplishes the near-impossible: you recoil in your disgust of her irreparable irresponsibility, yet sympathize with her situation and almost want to cheer her on near the end. This was a bold role choice for Dern and hats off to her!
The rest of the cast (too numerous to mention here) is terrific and gives credence to the madness swirling about Ruth. Without this ensemble, the touchy script for "Citizen Ruth" would fall flat on its face.
So, if you're up for an ideological challenge, see this film. Even if you don't like it, it'll give you plenty to talk about later.

Hilarious, but unclear.
Black comedy at its best. The 1996 film "Citizen Ruth" literally (and blatantly) pokes fun at the ongoing abortion debate, a subject which, in reality, isn't all that funny. Still, it draws enough laughs from its audiences to last them awhile.

Performances are all top-rate. Laura Dern is off the wall as the unbearable Ruth, and although one wants to physically harm her before the end of the film, she still keeps what it takes to keep the viewer interested throughout. Kurtwood Smith and Mary Kay Place turn in hilarity as the devout pro-lifers, as do Swoosie Kurtz and Kelly Preston on the other side of the fence. Watch for great cameos by Burt Reynolds and Hitchcock-veteran Tippi Hedren as, respectively, a creepily baby-loving televangelist and a staunchly serious women's rights activist.

The film does hilariously criticize both sides of the abortion debate, by portraying all the pro-lifers as big-haired, small-minded, "praise the lord"-shouting faux evangelists, as it portrays all the pro-choice characters as being homosexual, moon-worshipping (literally), mediagenic feminazis.

However, the film DOES has a slant, which is possibly its only flaw. The only character that doesn't reach to extremes and wants what really is best for Ruth is the pro-choice activists' bodyguard Harlan (played by the convincing M. C. Gainey), who, in all honesty, just believes in "human rights and personal freedom." Also, in the end, Ruth does essentially make her own choice, even if it is a bit skewed. Furthermore, the pro-life side is slammed much harder and more frequently than the pro-choice side. Director Alexander Payne should have made his statement more clear (that we as human beings should care for other human beings rather than just principles and issues), by picking a side of the fence to sit on rather than beating around the bush. However, the point is taken in the end, and it's entertaining along the way, on whichever side of the fence you happen to be.