Directed by Victor Nunez
Written by Victor Nunez, loosely based on “Northanger Abbey” by Jane Austen
Starring Ashley Judd, Todd Field, Bentley Mitchum, Allison Dean, and Dorothy Lyman
Rated R – language and sexual situations
1 hour 54 minutes
Available for digital rental or purchase

by Audrey Callerstrom, Staff Writer

Ruby in Paradise is that second genre of coming-of-age films–your 20s. We don’t know much about Ruby (Ashley Judd) when the film starts, only that she’s packed up her car and left her home state of Tennessee for Panama City, Florida. We see a man in the background, out of focus, shaking his fist. Is it her father? A boyfriend? It doesn’t seem like she’s leaving a life of trauma, but we don’t know for certain. Ruby is an idealistic dreamer, open to whatever the world throws her way.

Released in 1993, Ruby in Paradise was awarded the Grand Jury Prize at that year’s Sundance Film Festival. It feels like it moves in real time. We’re not only privy to Ruby’s highs and lows, but some of her day to day. She takes a retail job at Chamber’s Beach Emporium, a store that sells beach gear and seashell figurines and is run by Ms. Chambers (Dorothy Lyman). Ms. Chambers isn’t looking to hire anyone, but Ruby wins her over with resiliency and charm. “I work real cheap,” Ruby says. Soon Ruby is making friends with coworker Rochelle (Allison Dean, Coming to America) and has caught the eye of Ms. Chamber’s ne’er-do-well son, Ricky (Bentley Mitchum). Although Panama City is normally rife with tourist traffic, Ruby starts during the town’s off-season. Beaches are empty, retail stores are quiet, and opportunities are hard to come by. It looks and feels abandoned.

Ruby journals her thoughts and observations, which Judd narrates in voiceover. She’s trying to understand the morals and consequences of what plays out around here. Judd gives a tender, quiet performance; Ruby feels mature for her age, but it doesn’t hold her back from impulses, like a date with the charming and disastrous Ricky, which Ms. Chambers forbids. The film also doesn’t end with a more well-rounded, street smart character than it begins with. In some ways, Ruby in Paradise reminded me of Sean Baker’s The Florida Project. In both films, you have normal people struggling to get by in a spot where people go to get away.

Ruby in Paradise is currently being re-released fully restored from the original. It still looks very much like an independent film from 1993, but that might have more to do with fashions than the quality of the picture. Writer/director Victor Nunez holds Ruby in just a few tight close ups early on in the film; for the most part, Nunez wants you to see Ruby in her surroundings. Whether that’s with her friend, Rochelle, Ms. Chambers, or love interest Michael, played by actor/director Todd Field (Eyes Wide Shut).

In one of the most heartbreaking sequences which is without dialogue, we see Ruby driving to every office and storefront she can find, wearing a blazer and a smile, only to be shot down at every opportunity. She stops by a topless bar, questioning in that moment, could this be me? Ruby in Paradise is a sweet, heartfelt film about those moments of youth where you’re throwing things at the wall just to see what sticks. Ruby doesn’t want a reckless life of partying, although she entertains the thought, especially when watching the events of spring break unfold. Nor does she see the world through Michael’s eyes, like when he insists they leave an action movie because he considers it low brow. It’s a charming, unpolished, slice-of-life story that moves at a deliberately slow pace. Nunez isn’t interested in the standard dramatic beats or revelations, or even in Ruby’s competing love interests. He simply presents a character, a time, and a setting in an objective, realistic, but still engaging fashion.