‘Citizen Ruth’ Uses Dark Humor To Explore Polarizing Subject

You learn pretty much all you need to know about Ruth Stoops when she stops by her brother’s place to bum some money.

“Hi, mom,” one of her sons says. “How was jail?”

As the centerpiece of Alexander Payne’s film “Citizen Ruth,” Ruth is a lost soul - especially the way Laura Dern plays her with unflinching determination.

But don’t feel too sorry for her. The mother of four children, and pregnant again, Ruth is as likely to use a handout to buy some aerosol paint to sniff as she is to wake up once again behind bars.

Somewhere in all her struggles - Ruth has been jailed for drug use 16 times - there’s room for her to make a conscious decision to change. But she’s not likely to do so anytime soon; she’s failed rehab at least six times.

So she’s the perfect pawn to find herself between the two sides of the abortion debate.

Which brings us to this novel notion: “Citizen Ruth” is a comedy. Yes, it’s dark. And it’s cynical. And it’s uncompromisingly unfair to both sides; it assumes you agree that libeling everyone is a valid way of handling difficult material.

Of course, the topical nature of the material is likely why “Citizen Ruth” received only a limited theatrical release in March. It is available in Spokane only now and only on video.

But therein lies the movie’s sense of humor: Abortion is one of contemporary society’s most volatile issues, one whose basic battleground is a forum of distinct and ultimately unassailable themes. And no one is more open to caricature than zealots, regardless of the side they take.

“Citizen Ruth” shows how, in the midst of such a polarized battleground, the actual focus of the struggle often gets lost. But no one has Ruth’s interests more in mind than Ruth herself. In the end Dern, whose performance is a marvel of subtle obviousness (the contradiction is intentional), plays Ruth as a woman who won’t be used by anyone.

The rest of the cast, including Swoozie Kurtz, Mary Kay Place, Kurtwood Smith and even Burt Reynolds, is nearly her match.

“Citizen Ruth” may not teach you anything new about right to life vs. a woman’s right to choose, but it may provide you a clue or two about the contrary nature of human interaction.

***-1/2 Rated R

Oops!

In last week’s column, while listing movies in which impending death was a theme, I mentioned the 1956 made-for-television adaptation of Mark Harris’ baseball novel “Bang the Drum Slowly.” Suffering from a brain lock, I misrepresented the film’s credits.

Thanks to phone calls from the late Albert Salmi’s daughters, Jennifer and Lizanne - both of whom live in Spokane - I stand corrected.

In the 60-minute film, which was released in 1981 and 1989 by Wood Knapp Video, Paul Newman plays Author, the narrator/pitcher, Albert Salmi plays Bruce, the catcher with the fatal disease, and George Peppard plays Piney Woods, the motorcycle-riding player who is destined to take Bruce’s place.

If you can locate a copy of the tape, which might take some searching (check out the Web site www.reel.com), you’re in for a treat. A taped version of a live performance that was broadcast Sept. 26, 1956, on the U.S. Steel Hour, it boasts touching acting jobs by both Newman and Salmi.

A 12-minute introduction (the actual film is only 48 minutes) gives background on the production, and it includes interviews with both crew and cast - among them Salmi.

Shooting site: Sandpoint

“The Last Game,” a film shot in Sandpoint and starring Joey Travolta plus a number of Sandpoint residents, is now available on video.

Written by Dean H. Crook, produced by Scott Haynes and Tom Parrish and directed by Parrish, it stars Travolta as a Sandpoint police officer. Suffering from a heart condition, Travolta is torn between taking care of himself, doing his job and supporting his hearing-impaired middle daughter who is struggling on the basketball court.

“The Last Game” lacks the slick feel of a professionally made film, but it does offer a stirring performance by talented Sandpoint actress Sherean Neville as the daughter. And anyone familiar with Sandpoint will recognize virtually every scene.

Achieving only limited release, the film was cited by Good Housekeeping magazine for being “a story of love, perseverance and the power of the family.”

Sandpoint resident Dale Snipes, who served as the film’s background director, is putting together a bulk order of the video from New Family Movies. She anticipates that, with the order, each video will cost as little as $12.99.

For further information, call Snipes at (208) 263-3016.

The week’s major release:

Mars Attacks!

**-1/2

Director Tim Burton (“Batman,” “Edward Scissorhands”) does this parody both of 1950s sci-fi films and the 1996 neo-patriotic fantasy “Independence Day.” Starring a huge ensemble cast, which includes Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Michael J. Fox, Pierce Brosnan, Sarah Jessica Parker, Rod Steiger, Jim Brown and Pam Grier, the film offers several moments of wild imagery and even wilder humor. The problem is that, at least in terms of plot cohesiveness, Burton seems again to be swerving toward a kind of Ed Wood Jr. cinema aesthetic. Rated PG-13

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: WHAT’S NEW TO VIEW Now available: “Citizen Ruth” (Buena Vista), “Crime Story” (Buena Vista), “Hotel de Love” (LIVE), “Mars Attacks!” (Warner), “My Fellow Americans” (Warner), “Sworn Enemies” (A-Pix), “The Boys’ Club” (A-Pix), “The Nurse” (LIVE). Available Tuesday: “The Pest” (Columbia TriStar), “Turbulence” (HBO), “Gridlock’d” (Polygram), “Shiloh” (Warner), “Touch” (MGM/ UA), “Twelfth Night” (New Line), “Ridicule” (Buena Vista), “A Couch in New York” (BMG), “In Love and War” (New Line), “Scream” (Buena Vista).