Ruby in Paradise (1993)

Too much of everything

hyped garbage

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Victor Nunez imbues this unsentimental tale of a young woman's emotional journey with a sense of poetry seldom seen in cinema. By poetry I mean the sense in which the literary and the cinematic come into play. There is something very literary about the film, almost as if a novel has been adapted page by page to screen. In this sense, the film achieves depths many cannot; but it is also rather slow at other times, undercutting the depths it once achieved in favor of ennui. The film's star Ashley Judd has not yet made a better film than her debut here. She fits the role of lead Ruby like a glove, almost as if she didn't have to act. She has true movie star presence in the film, and hasn't really managed to convey the same allure in her later films, although she was impressive in Normal Life.

This is without a doubt the most boring movie I have ever seen. Ashley Judd does a really good acting job, but the script and directing are terrible. Were they trying to bore us to death? This movie plods on and on monotonously. There is no buildup, no climax; in fact there is no plot at all. By the time it was halfway through, I began to pray that it would end. But it didn't. It just kept going, one pointless scene followed by another equally pointless scene. Why I kept watching it, I do not know. Maybe, deep down, I thought that it would get more interesting towards the end. Maybe I was waiting for some kind of point or moral to be made. If so, I was waiting in vain, for there is no point to this movie.I don't expect every movie I watch to be filled with action and suspense. However, I do expect to find something interesting or engaging. Is that too much to hope for?No offense to you if you like this movie, but "Ruby in Paradise" is dull, boring, pointless, and mind-numbing. Anyone who views it in its entirety without going bonkers should get a T-shirt that says "I survived 'Ruby in Paradise'".

Another one of those films you hear about from friends (...or read about on IMDb). Not many false notes in this one. I could see just about everything here actually happening to a young girl fleeing from a dead-end home town in Tennessee to Florida, with all her worldly possessions in an old beaten-up car.The heroine, Ruby, makes some false starts, but learns from them. I found myself wondering why, why didn't she lean a bit more on Mike's shoulder, but...she has her reasons, as it turns out.Just a fine film. The only thing I don't much like about it, I think, is the title.

This movie captures the essence of growing up in smalltown America for a young girl on her own. The realism and subtle nuances, offered to Ashley Judd's character, Ruby, by the storyline, capture what can only be described as a true to life setting in the panhandle of Florida. From the slam of a screen door, to the lack of work, the echoes of what life is really like on the "red-neck riviera" provide rough choices for the young girl. Paradise did not come easy. But she slowly overcomes obstacles and deceit, and learns to be her own woman, with a strength that flows from within. Ashley Judd's winning smile, and infectious gait exude warmth and command respect and admiration. The careful pace of the character development resembles that of "Ulee's Gold" in 1997, starring Peter Fonda, and also directed by Victor Nunez.