Review of Citizen Ruth (1996) by Ben D — 02 Mar 2012

The success of The Descendants in 2011 made me track down a copy of this, Alexander Payne's debut feature which somehow I missed on its inital release, despite reading every film mag and working in a video rental store at the time. Maybe if I did read about it then, I forgot about it quickly because its premise seemed not for me - for Citizen Ruth is an abortion comedy.

An abortion comedy. Right from the start of his career we can see Alexander Payne reaching to do something different. For the majority Citizen Ruth works very well indeed - at least while you're watching it. Laura Dern is very good indeed as Ruth - and there are some nice supporting turns from people like Kurtwood Smith, Burt Reynolds and Swoozie Kurtz. The biggest problem facing Citzen Ruth is that it doesn't quite hold together - Payne is so keen on having Ruth experience both sides of the abortion argument that the film comes closer to a series of loosely connected sketches rather than a full blown narrative. Some interesting characters are interesting only to be abandoned before the half way stage - the daughter of the uptight pro-lifers who wants to be a wild child suggests some interesting opposition to the main argument of the film, but she is quickly forgotten.

Nevertheless, Citizen Ruth is protean Alexander Payne, and as such it makes for fascinating viewing. Not a great debut, perhaps, but very enjoyable whilst your watching. I just don't think I'll ever return to it.