Film Forum

U.S., 1996
Directed by Alexander Payne
Starring Laura Dern, Swoosie Kurtz, Kelly Preston, Burt Reynolds, Kurtwood Smith, Mary Kay Place, Kenneth Mars, Tippi Hedren
Approx. 102 min.

Ruth Stoops (Dern), a poor, drug-addled young woman who’s already had four children taken from her by the state, finds herself pregnant again while in jail. When the judge threatens her with a felony charge unless she has an abortion, Ruth is taken in by pro-life activist Gail Stoney (Mary Kay Place), and suddenly becomes the reluctant centerpiece of an escalating tug-of-war between pro-choice and pro-life activists, each eager to use her as a message for their cause.

New 4K restoration by IndieCollect, in collaboration with The Criterion Collection and Paramount Pictures

A PARAMOUNT PICTURES RELEASE

Reviews

“A gallery of sharp-edged satiric portraits.”
– Roger Ebert

“Laura Dern is a revelation: desperate, kooky, as devious as a pack rat, her Ruth grows likable, and even heroic, by remaining too pure a scoundrel to be taken in by the phonies around her.”
– Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

“A hilariously brazen comedy whose heroine is an improbable hoot... Criminally negligent as Ruth is, she becomes outrageously funny and weirdly lovable thanks to Laura Dern’s sidesplitting performance in this role... Delivers more than enough lively, gutsy satire.”
– Janet Maslin, The New York Times