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, and Kelly Preston, and features a memorable extended cameo by Burt Reynolds. It was cowritten by Alexander Payne amd Jim Taylor; Payne also directed the film. The running time is 105 minutes. The film was a drama film nominee for the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize. This is a list of film-related events in 1996. ... The morality and legality of abortion is a highly controversial issue in the United States and United Kingdom —abortion referring to both the separate act as well as the social sanction for the practice of terminating the life of a fetal being While the abortion debate is typically within the... Laura Dern Laura Elizabeth Dern (born February 10, 1967 in Los Angeles, California) is an American actress. ... Swoosie Kurtz (born on September 6, 1944, in Omaha, Nebraska) is an American actress. ... Kelly Preston Kelly Kamalelehua Palzis Preston (born October 13, 1962 in Honolulu, Hawaii) is an American actress. ... Burt Reynolds in 2005 Burt Reynolds (born Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. ... Alexander Payne Constantine Alexander Payne (born February 10, 1961 in Omaha, Nebraska) is an American film director and screenwriter of Greek descent (his Greek name is Alexandros Papadopoulos). ... This article is about the American football player; Jim Taylor is also the name of a writer and the name of a film maker. ... A drama film is a film that depends mostly on in-depth character development, interaction, and highly emotional themes. ... The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival in the United States, and ranks amongst the top five events of its type in the world. ...

Story

The film opens with Ruth 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. A flophouse or dosshouse is a place that offers very cheap lodging, generally by providing only minimal services. ... The mug shot of an inhalant user arrested in Ohio in 2005 for inhaling gold spraypaint. ...

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. A pregnant woman Pregnancy is the process by which a mammalian female carries a live offspring from conception until it develops to the point where the offspring is capable of living outside the womb. ... A judge or justice is an official who presides over a court. ...

Both sides offer incentives into the thousands of dollars to the hapless and exhilarated woman, in order to secure her promise (less than honorable) that she keep or abort the child. Wise for the dollar, and completely disinterested in her state, Ruth rampantly encourages the bartering. 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 in order to collect $15,000 which has been left there for her by a Vietnam veteran who is sympathetic to her plight and wants her to choose freely. She then breaks out of the clinic by dropping part of a toliet 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. Miscarriage or spontaneous abortion is the natural or accidental termination of a pregnancy at a stage where the embryo or the fetus is incapable of surviving, generally defined at a gestation of prior to 20 weeks. ... Vietnam veteran is a phrase used to describe someone who served in the armed forces of participating countries during the Vietnam War. ...

External link

• Citizen Ruth at the Internet Movie Database