Ruby (1992)

I love this movie so much

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

The JFK assassination might well be the biggest enigma in modern American history. Exactly what happened in Dealy Plaza on November 22, 1963 and why has been the subject of much speculation and interest. So it's no surprise then that filmmakers have taken a few cracks at exploring it, especially in the wake of Oliver Stone's 1991 film JFK. It was very shortly after JFK's release that John Mackenzie's Ruby hit cinema screens which was unfortunate as the film came to be overlooked. That wasn't a terrible thing though as watching the film reveals.I first saw Ruby around 2003 or so when the A&E channel here would run a film with commercials on TV around seven in the morning. Watching Ruby again on DVD now I realize how much was cut out of the film for that airing of it, around twenty minutes or so, and how that wasn't a bad thing. At ninety minutes or so the film moved along at a good pace but at its full running time it's far too long and complicated for its own good.Which is something that can be blamed on thing more than anything else: the script by Stephen Davis. Davis tries to use Ruby, himself something of an enigmatic figure, to tie together various strands of its own theory about the JFK assassination. The film takes the viewer from Dallas to Cuba, New Orleans, Las Vegas, and back to Dallas in the space of a little under two hours and often stretching believability to its limits along the way. A perfect example is an early sequence taking Ruby to Castro's Cuba which actually doesn't add much of anything to the overall film except add an additional character who does little and add more running time to the film. Other times it feels like Davis is just trying to show off his research such as adding Dallas police officer Tippit (played by a pre X-Files David Duchovny), allegedly killed by Oswald after the assassination, who is introduced early in the film and then never reappears. In the end, Davis' script tries to explain and condense so much that it becomes a muddled mess.That isn't the only problem with the script. The dialogue throughout is pretty atrocious, full of little more than clichés and exposition. That extends to the characters as well as virtually everyone in the film feels like a walking, talking cardboard cliché from Ruby (portrayed as a mobster with a heart of gold) to Candy Cane (the seemingly innocent girl who receives an education in how the world work) as well as various mobsters and government figures along the way. There's also some vast and quite obvious fictionalizations of people and events (such as Candy Cane who takes on elements of several different women to the point of being utterly unbelievable) that, along with the dialogue and characterizations, end up undermining the attempts at credibility that other elements of the film try so hard to obtain. It's a script that might be a passable for a TV movie but for a Hollywood feature film is sorely lacking.Why is a shame because there's good to be found in the film. The period recreations are quite good and do a solid job of invoking the early 1960s, especially in Las Vegas and Dallas from sets to costumes. If nothing else, the film is worth seeing for what looks to have been some expensive period recreations and for having actually shot scenes in Dallas as well. Overall, the film is stylishly made with not just wonderful production values but also some solid cinematography from Phil Méheux and direction from John Mackenzie. The only sour note production wise is the score from John Scott which never quite seems to mesh with the film outside of its use of source music, feeling like it was meant for another film entirely. On the whole though, on a purely production level, it's well made.Which brings us to the cast. The two leads, Danny Aiello and Sherilyn Fenn as Ruby and Candy Cane respectively, both turn in solid performances given the material they have to work from. Fenn in particular comes across quite well, turning in a solid performance while also looking stunning in period clothing. The supporting cast tries to do their best with sometimes awkward material that they end up often being wasted such as Marc Lawrence's mob boss and Arliss Howard as mysterious CIA agent Maxwell. It's a shame really because the cast could have done so much more one feels like.Indeed that sentiment sums up the entire film. Ruby tries to tell an interesting and compelling story, telling it with excellent period recreations and what should be a good cast. Instead it tells an overlong and muddled tale full of bad dialogue. Despite some of its finer points, Ruby ends up being a fairly forgettable film on an interesting subject that fails to say much of anything.

When Oliver Stone decided to make his controversial "JFK" he knew his film would be debated since he was presenting countless challenges on facts concerning the assassination of President Kennedy. What Oliver couldn't predict was the appearance of films that followed his conspiracy theories on the same subject, although none of these films, including "Ruby", caused impact on anything. More than that, none of these films had the same material quality "JFK" had, a film with so much to handle in terms of characters and situations that never gets boring or complicated.Now, John Mackenzie's "Ruby" is a wildly confusing film focused on Jack Ruby, the mysterious nightclub owner who murdered Lee Harvey Oswald, the man who (some say) shot Kennedy in Dallas, in 1963. Ruby, played with some good effort by Danny Aiello, is presented as someone similar like Oswald, a ingenuous patsy who joined the wrong people (the Mafia) for one cause and for reasons unknown was betrayed by his so-called friends who opted for killing the president. The movie gets even deeper by showing that Ruby was some sort of a informant for the government pretending to be part of the Mafia, meeting guys like Gambini and other powerful mobsters, who were plotting to kill Fidel Castro but for some reason they changed planes and decided to take Kennedy out of the picture. To make things worst, the movie chooses to include a fictional character, the stripper Candy Cane (Sherilyn Fenn) who works for Ruby, and in terms of script she's a composition between Marilyn Monroe, Ruby's girlfriend and a woman who had affairs with mobsters and even Kennedy. We hardly know who is she in the picture and how important she is besides being the wildest thing on Jack's club. What about the mysterious Maxwell (played by Arliss Howard, very good here)? Who was that guy? Part of CIA? Mafia? He always bothers Ruby but never reveals himself except the original planning about dealing with Castro. The connections between characters and situations might have worked in real life but in the film it fails at horrible levels, to the point of unbelievable.Compared with "JFK" this film is easy to follow but it never achieves greatness; it doesn't shine a light to new facts on Kennedy's and Oswald's murders; it can only confuses with more and more things. Structurally speaking, the whole film is a mess, slow at the beginning and very rushed towards the ending and that combination ruined the suspense and made a boring drama who had some good moments. The lamest of contradictions presented was the fact of Ruby being a patriotic man, who deals with the Mafia, a bad job for his country and at the same time cries out loud when he finally realizes his own people will kill the President. It's okay to do illegal things, not pay taxes and the government but you can't kill this nation's leader. It's quite watchable but when you analyzes the material the director had in the hands you know he could have done better than this. 5/10

Jack Ruby was an individual that epitomized the plight of someone who became perpetually victimized by his environment. Growing up in a tough and tumble south side neighborhood in Chicago, Jack Ruby had to earn everything the hard way! His testosterone driven theatrics were always justified under the belligerent premise that he loathed and excoriated all caitiff behavior and mannerisms which lurked in his threatened existence! Actor, Danny Aiello, was extremely well suited to the role of Jack Ruby. Desultarily assembled and jagged around the edges, Aiello portrayed the role of the disgruntled owner of the Dallas strip club lounge, Jack Ruby, with an absolutely powerful and well articulated perfection. The mindset of Jack Ruby was one in which he had an emblematic adoration of John F. Kennedy. Ruby was keenly aware of the fact that the assassination of Kennedy was a conspiracy! Knowing this, Ruby's conception of the entire fiasco was one whereby he felt that it was incumbent upon him to implement a simple eye for an eye endeavor of vigilante justice. This being Ruby's objective, Lee Harvey Oswald became his prime target! Love, lust, collusion, money, violence, and organized crime were elements in Ruby's life that ended up becoming a lethally inconclusive and ephemeral obsession with him! Nothing ever made sense in Jack Ruby's world, and, as a result, his adversarial circumstances made him respond accordingly! The intensity with which this film depicts Ruby's rudimentary defense mechanisms, wound up being incredibly thought provoking. Jack Ruby's life became one big tenet for convoluted sensationalism; Killing John F Kennedy and killing Lee Harvey Oswald, were actions which were induced by the prevailing agitation which emanated from the megalomania cal underworld! All in all, the intertwining integral facets of implication in this aggregate potpourri of political tumultuousness for all of this violence, eventually collaborated as a scenario for situational pandemonium. This politically high profile charade brought about a pejorative pique for a bevy of fame famished reprobates to thrive on. Throughout history, this has always been the nefarious scourge; Who was John Wilkes Booth? Who was Lee Harvey Oswald? Who was Sirhan Sirhan? And, of course, it goes without saying; Who was Jack Ruby? What made them famous? The heinous ordeal of murdering, or being related to the murder of a highly prominent political leader, has given all of these men an indelibly dreadful notoriety! The film "Ruby" authenticates the prevailing rancor during the Kennedy assassination escapades in a very scathing, yet poignant manner! The aspects to the Dallas strip club paradigm during the early 1960's was something which the directors and producers of this film executed flawlessly! Films which are candidly cogent about genuinely dire reactions tend to garner my favor far more readily than a high budget Hollywood bombshell flick with a myriad of special effects. The film "Ruby" is a one of a kind diamond in the rough which manifests an unpleasant amelioration concerning the vicious circle of assassinations during the Kennedy era. This movie did not just simply depict the occurrences pertaining to John F. Kennedy's and Lee Harvey Oswald's assassination, they also encompassed the visceral and motivational depravity behind these occurrences as well! Ultimately, cerebral vindication amongst many felonious misfits, as well as people who dealt with these sordid walks of life, became the intellectually diabolical villain which vitiated any respect which these people should have had for law and order in our American system of democracy! Having been to Dallas many times, the historical correlation this film makes to this city is very fascinating! The strip club which Jack Ruby owned is located in one of the nicest hotels in downtown Dallas! As a matter of fact, what was once Jack Ruby's strip club, is now a sports bar, that is somewhat amusing, isn't it? The assassination of John F. Kennedy, and the demented wiles associated with it, all have the dubious distinction of putting Dallas on the map for political terrorism! This movie is covertly compelling, and, I would recommend to any history buff, as well as all movie viewers, that they should see this film whenever they possibly can. "Ruby" is a difficult movie to find, and, it may only be available on video cassette, as in the thing you put in a -VCR- -YES, THAT ANTEQUATED MONSTER!!- Nevertheless, people should try to get a hold of it and view the movie, mostly on account of the fact that the film "Ruby" is very insightful and emotionally innovative! I give it a definite and resounding thumbs up!

When I first watched the real Jack Ruby kill Oswald on the TV screen, we all felt like Jack was a hero and this picture came very close in telling the actual truth about what really went on in the White House, in Cuba, and all the so called HOODS involved. Danny Aiello,(Jack Ruby),"Mambo Cafe",2000, was the perfect choice to play the way Jack Ruby really looked and acted, I am sure Danny Aiello did a great deal of homework studying Ruby's characteristics. Sherilyn Fenn,(Candy Cane),"Lonelife",'97, put a big sparkle into the film with her sexy figure, she looked just like M. Monroe! Veteran actor Marc Lawrence,(Santos Alicante) who has performed in 178 films playing mostly gangsters and real bad guys gave a great supporting role. In my estimation, this is a great film about JACK RUBY!