- Citizen Ruth
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Citizen Ruth 
original film poster for Citizen RuthDirected by Alexander Payne Produced by Cary Woods
Cathy Konrad
Andrew Stone
Michael ZimbrichWritten by Alexander Payne
Jim TaylorStarring Laura Dern
Burt Reynolds
Mary Kay Place
Swoosie Kurtz
Kurtwood Smith
Tippi HedrenMusic by Rolfe Kent Cinematography James Glennon Editing by Kevin Tent Distributed by Miramax Films Release date(s) 
January 1996 (Sundance Film Festival)
December 13, 1996
August 24Running time 102 min. Country United States Language English Budget $3,000,000 (estimated) Box office $285,112 Citizen Ruth is a 1996 film that tells a story of a poor, irresponsible and pregnant woman who unexpectedly attracts attention from those involved in the debate about the morality and legality of abortion. The film stars Laura Dern, Swoosie Kurtz, Mary Kay Place, Kurtwood Smith and Kelly Preston, and features a memorable extended cameo by Burt Reynolds. It was directed by Alexander Payne and written by Payne and Jim Taylor. The original music score was composed by Rolfe Kent. The film was a drama film nominee for the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize.
Story
The film opens with Ruth Stoops and a man (apparently an ex-boyfriend) having intercourse on a bed in a flophouse, after which he disrespectfully throws her out of the apartment. She later goes to a hardware store to buy patio sealant and huffs it in a paper bag in an alley to get high. Ruth is portrayed as a dumb, inebriated addict, capable of doing nearly anything to get money or drugs.
Ruth has four children, all of whom have been taken from her custody by the state because of her inability to care for them (or even for herself). Her children are scattered among three different homes. Ruth goes to the home of her brother and sister-in-law to sneak a look at two of her children and to beg her brother for money.
After Ruth is arrested for her continuing drug use, she learns that she is pregnant again. The judge, who knows of the situation with Ruth's other offspring, suggests that he will deal with her less harshly if she has an abortion. Through a chance encounter with a group of jailed abortion protesters, Ruth soon finds herself at the center of an escalating battle between people on both sides of the abortion issue. Both sides engage in deceitful tactics to influence Ruth's decision. The pro-life people run a fake abortion clinic, where they actually seek to dissuade patients from receiving the proffered service. The pro-choice people have 'spies' in the pro-life group who spirit Ruth away.
Both sides offer incentives into the thousands of dollars to the hapless and exhilarated woman to secure her promise that she keep or abort the child. Wise for the dollar, Ruth rampantly encourages the bidding. She becomes the object of a local news and political obsession — a figure of the media whom all want to know: will she or won't she have an abortion?
On the day Ruth is to receive her abortion, she suffers a miscarriage. Going along with the pretense of having the abortion, she proceeds to the clinic to collect $15,000 that has been left there for her by one of the security guards of the clinic who believes in personal freedom. He has personally given her the money, free of organizational sponsorship, to match the bid given by the Pro-Life group, so that she can make her decision without the influence of money. She then breaks out of the clinic by dropping a toilet tank cover on a guard's head and walks by oblivious protesters on both sides. Though she had been on the television news for weeks, none of the picketers on either side pay any attention to her actual presence. Finally standing up, she runs away down the street.
A running joke in the film is a "Success in Finance" type tape produced by an Amway type company. Ruth takes the tape and studies it to determine what to do with her newfound money.
Main cast
Actor Role Laura Dern Ruth Stoops Swoosie Kurtz Diane Siegler Kurtwood Smith Norm Stoney Mary Kay Place Gail Stoney Kelly Preston Rachel M. C. Gainey Harlan Kenneth Mars Dr. Charles Rollins David Graf Judge Richter Kathleen Noone Nurse Pat Tippi Hedren Jessica Weiss Burt Reynolds Blaine Gibbons Alicia Witt Cheryl Stoney Diane Ladd Ruth's mother External links
- Citizen Ruth at the Internet Movie Database
- Citizen Ruth at AllRovi
- Citizen Ruth at Rotten Tomatoes
- Citizen Ruth at Metacritic
- Citizen Ruth at Box Office Mojo
Films directed by Alexander Payne 1990s Citizen Ruth (1996) · Election (1999)2000s About Schmidt (2002) · Sideways (2004)2010s The Descendants (2011)Categories:- 1996 films
- American films
- American political satire films
- 1990s comedy films
- Directorial debut films
- Films about abortion
- English-language films
- Films directed by Alexander Payne
- Miramax Films films
- Films set in Nebraska
- Films shot in Nebraska
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