Review of Citizen Ruth (1996) by Adam R — 31 May 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.