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Ruby in Paradise

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Ruby in Paradise
Video release poster
Directed byVictor Nunez
Written byVictor Nunez
Produced byKeith Crofford
Starring
CinematographyAlex Vlacos
Edited byVictor Nunez
Music byCharles Engstrom
Production
companies
  • Full Crew[1]
  • Say Yea Productions[1]
Distributed by
Release dates
  • January 1993 (1993-01) (Sundance)
  • October 1993 (1993-10) (U.S.)
Running time
115 minutes
LanguageEnglish
Budget$800,000 (estimated)[2]
Box office$1 million[3]

Ruby in Paradise is a 1993 film written and directed by Victor Nunez, starring Ashley Judd, Todd Field, Bentley Mitchum, Allison Dean, and Dorothy Lyman. An homage to Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen,[4] the film is a character study about a young woman who escapes her small town in Tennessee to seek a more exciting life in Florida. The film marks Judd’s first starring role.

The film won the Grand Jury Prize for Dramatic Feature at the 1993 Sundance Film Festival. It was also nominated for five Independent Spirit Awards, including for Best Film, Best Director, and Best Female Lead for Judd.

Plot

Ruby is a young woman in her early 20s and the narrator of the film. She leaves her small town in Tennessee after her mother dies. She lands in Panama City, Florida, a summer resort town she visited as a child. Although she arrives there in fall, at the beginning of the off-season, she gets a job at Chambers Beach Emporium, a souvenir store run by Mildred Chambers. Mildred rejects Ruby’s application initially, but Ruby wins her over by telling her, "I've done retail before, and I work real cheap."

Over the course of a year Ruby keeps a journal where she contemplates her career ups and downs, her love life, her past, and her future. Ruby's introspective narration is interspersed with routine scenes at the souvenir store, and conversations with her friend Rochelle or the men she dates, Ricky and Mike.

Cast

Production

Ruby in Paradise was filmed on location in Panama City, Florida at locations including Show N Tail gentleman's club and White Western Cabin.

Release

The film premiered in January 1993 at the Sundance Film Festival. It was given a limited release in North American theaters that October.

Home media

After the movie's theatrical run, the film was released on videocassette and laserdisc in 1994 by Republic and that same year in Canada by Cineplex Odeon. In 2008, Alliance Films released the movie on DVD in Canada.

Critical reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of 86% from 28 reviews with the consensus: "Led by a magnetic performance from Ashley Judd, the gently subdued Ruby in Paradise perceptively captures one woman's journey of self-discovery."[5] On Metacritic it has a score of 77% based on reviews from 25 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[6]

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it 4 stars out of 4, and wrote: "Ruby in Paradise is a wonderful, life-affirming movie about a young woman who has that kind of luck. It's a celebration of heart, courage and persistence."[7] Ebert also picked it as one of his Top Ten Films of 1993.[8]

Variety wrote: "Victor Nunez has returned with a film of gentle, intelligent qualities, vividly portraying a young woman's inner life."[9]

Steve Persall of the Tampa Bay Times said, "You can tell [Nunez] loves his home state, not from any postcard vistas—there are none in Ruby in Paradise—but from tell-tale glances at how Floridians relate to newcomers, tourists and an evolving class structure. Nunez knows there are plenty of Rubys crossing the state line every year and most won't discover a pot of gold at the end of the turnpike. His honesty is eye-opening, even to a longtime resident."[10]

Awards and nominations

The film won the 1993 Grand Jury Prize for Drama at the Sundance Film Festival (together with Public Access).[11] Judd's performance earned her the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead, and Field's performance earned him an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Actor nomination. The film was also nominated for the Grand Prix of the Belgian Syndicate of Cinema Critics.

References

  1. ^ a b c d "Ruby in Paradise (1993)". AFI Catalog of Feature Films. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  2. ^ "Ruby in Paradise". The Numbers. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
  3. ^ "Ruby in Paradise". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved September 26, 2022.
  4. ^ "Northanger Abbey". Jane Austen Society of North America. January 10, 2010.
  5. ^ "Ruby in Paradise (1993)". Rotten Tomatoes.
  6. ^ "Ruby in Paradise". Metacritic.
  7. ^ Ebert, Roger (November 26, 1993). "Ruby in Paradise movie review (1993)". Chicago Sun-Times.
  8. ^ Ebert, Roger (December 31, 1993). "The Best 10 Movies of 1993". Chicago Sun-Times. RogerEbert.com.
  9. ^ "Ruby in Paradise". Variety. 1 January 1993.
  10. ^ Persall, Steve (January 21, 1994). "Real Florida is Ruby's paradise". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved 2022-09-26.
  11. ^ "1993 Sundance Film Festival". www.sundance.org. Retrieved 2022-09-26.
Awards
Preceded by Sundance Grand Jury Prize: U.S. Dramatic
1993
tied with Public Access 		Succeeded by
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