Ruby

Directed by John Mckenzie

The movie audience jumps as the shots ring out. On the wide screen, John F. Kennedy lurches forward, his skull shattered by the bullets' impact. The crowd is horrified and the nation stunned, and the attempt to untangle the mystery behind his assassination begins. The Warren Commission determines that murderer Lee Harvey Oswald acts alone, but the movie audience leaves the theater unconvinced. The film's director seems to believe there's some kind of conspiacy afoot, and he's done a good job arguing his case.

JFK, right?

Guess again. This movie doesn't star Kevin Costner and Jack Lemmon, and it wasn't directed by Oliver Stone. Ruby is the newest effort from director John MacKenzie. And although it shares a great deal with its blockbuster predecessor--a reenactment of Oswald's murder two days, later, a resounding nostalgia for the 1960s'--it's also distinctly different. Mackenzie's thoughtful film focuses on the experiences of Jack Ruby, delving into the small-town gangster's mob and government connections as the key to the solution for the Kennedy mystery.

The film opens in Dallas, where Ruby (Danny Aiello) runs the Carousel Club, a burlesque bar. In need of a dancer, Ruby visits his usual haunt, the Greyhound depot diner, where he meets stripper-to-be Sheryl Ann Dujean (a blonde Sherilyn Fenn).

Christened Candy Cane, she makes her debut when Ruby hosts precinct night for the Dallas police force. The night marks Ruby's big debut, also--he finally gets his big break with the bosses. His challenge is to use his drug running links to free Santos Alienate (Marc Lawrence), their man in Havana, catapults Ruby into the limelight and allows him to play with the big boys at a mob gathering in Las Vegas. Soon, However, the bar owner finds himself embroiled in events that are beyond his understanding and control.

Ruby meets its primary aim--to humanize the man behind the historical figure of Jack Ruby--remarkably well. As a Jewish hustler trying to move up in the Sicilian hierarchy, Ruby is the quintessential outsider, and Danny Aiello movingly portrays him as an heroic figure seeking truth, justice and the American way. Sherilyn Fenn, as Candy Cane, also boosts the movie's emotional impact.

But the film--again, like JFK--struggles with its attempt to analyze history, too often romanticizing the past. For example, JFK's assassination is highly stylized: slow motion photography, with a beautiful Judy Collins rendition of "Amazing Grace" in the background, lends great spirituality to the event. However, this excess is unnecessary given the emotional and spiritual power Kennedy's assassination already commands over the American psyche.

However, despite its historical shortcomings, Ruby succeeds in telling the Jack Ruby story in a sensitive manner. It is an introspective film that portrays the killer with great intelligence--a film for those who wish to think while being entertained.