Performances are all top-rate. Laura Dern is off the wall as the unbearable Ruth, and although one wants to physically harm her before the end of the film, she still keeps what it takes to keep the viewer interested throughout. Kurtwood Smith and Mary Kay Place turn in hilarity as the devout pro-lifers, as do Swoosie Kurtz and Kelly Preston on the other side of the fence. Watch for great cameos by Burt Reynolds and Hitchcock-veteran Tippi Hedren as, respectively, a creepily baby-loving televangelist and a staunchly serious women's rights activist.

The film does hilariously criticize both sides of the abortion debate, by portraying all the pro-lifers as big-haired, small-minded, "praise the lord"-shouting faux evangelists, as it portrays all the pro-choice characters as being homosexual, moon-worshipping (literally), mediagenic feminazis.

However, the film DOES has a slant, which is possibly its only flaw. The only character that doesn't reach to extremes and wants what really is best for Ruth is the pro-choice activists' bodyguard Harlan (played by the convincing M. C. Gainey), who, in all honesty, just believes in "human rights and personal freedom." Also, in the end, Ruth does essentially make her own choice, even if it is a bit skewed. Furthermore, the pro-life side is slammed much harder and more frequently than the pro-choice side. Director Alexander Payne should have made his statement more clear (that we as human beings should care for other human beings rather than just principles and issues), by picking a side of the fence to sit on rather than beating around the bush. However, the point is taken in the end, and it's entertaining along the way, on whichever side of the fence you happen to be.

But Payne and co-sreenwriter Jim Taylor succeeded beyond expectation both times out. These are films that take no prisoners. It's not surprising that in the case of RUTH, many viewers focus on the equal-opportunity skewering that both sides of the abortion debate receive. All true, but the characters are not quite the stereotypical cut-out figures that some have suggested. While Mary Kay Place as a fundamentalist pro-lifer may seem an obvious choice, and Swoosie Kurtz's performance as a radical pro-choicer may seem standard-issue at first, both the script and the individual performances are so full of deft touches and subtle embellishments, that their characters' self-contradictory humanity finally does begin to emerge.

Caught up in the abortion rights maelstrom is the hapless Ruth Stoops, a homeless drug addict and four-time pronounced unfit mother, who finds herself facing felony charges of 'fetal abuse' after a routine physical examination after a drug bust finds her pregnant once again. At least one review I found poking around the Net, suggested that the theme was getting a little "old" by the time of this film's release in 1996. The "fetal abuse" charge, however, is precisely the element that made the film au courant. The 'fetal rights' argument has been used increasingly in recent years to advance the pro-life cause.

Satire has its own special demands on actors, but turning in a multi-layered performance is not usually one of them. As suggested above, actors like Kurtz and Place are given some opportunity to do just that and you'll catch those moments if you don't blink. But in the title role Laura Dern is given that privelege throughout. Ruth is certainly slow-witted and morally immature, but Payne and Taylor wisely give her just enough self-awareness to make her interesting. And Dern does not play her too broadly. The satire takes on life around this authentic seeming character, almost despite her. CITIZEN RUTH is richer than your average cinematic satire.

Payne and Taylor are also the creative team behind ABOUT SCHMIDT, another film I missed in its theatrical run. Let's face it, it IS hard to keep up if you have a life. But now THAT one is definitely on my list of must-sees. A new film, SIDEWAYS, is currently in production. OK, next time out, I'll see that one first-run.