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Critics' Corner
Jane Horwitz - Style section, "Brave, funny and thoroughly irreverent."

Desson Howe - Weekend section, "The film degenerates into an overly simplistic satire."

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 'Citizen Ruth'

Scene from this movie Pregnant for the umpteenth time, addicted glue and chemical sniffer Ruth Stoops (Laura Dern) is sentenced to jail for endangering the life of her fetus. But when the judge tells her he’ll forgo the punishment if she has an abortion, the issue is politicized by a group of religious pro-life activists, led by Norm and Gail Stoney, who take in Ruth, treat her well, and groom her as a poster Mom for their cause.

But a rival group, led by Diane Sieglar and her assistant Rachel, spirits her into their lair, to protect her right to have an abortion. Torn between two groups who are obviously just using her for their political ends, the simplistic, fume-recovering Ruth becomes receptive to the adversaries’ straight-out money offers. -- Desson Howe
Rated R

Director: Alexander Payne
Cast: Laura Dern; Swoozie Kurtz; Kurtwood Smith; Mary Kay Place; Kelly Preston; Burt Reynolds; M.C. Gainey;
Marilyn Tipp; Kenneth Mars
Running Time: 1 hour, 42 minutes
Filmographies: Laura Dern; Burt Reynolds