Victor Nuñez's RUBY IN PARADISE (1993)

(source)

Reeling from her mother's recent death, Ruby Lee Gissing (Ashley Judd) relocates to Florida to start anew. After finding a job at a souvenir store, Ruby becomes friends with the shop's owner, Mildred Chambers (Dorothy Lyman), and slowly acclimates to her new surroundings. Before long, she's juggling the affections of Mildred's Lothario son, Ricky (Bentley Mitchum), and the good-natured Mike (Todd Field). As she wavers between Ricky and Mike, Ruby also tries to come to terms with her past.-WWW

Initial release: 8 October 1993 (New York City)

Director: Victor Nuñez

Box office: 1 million USD

Budget: 800,000 USD

Screenplay: Victor Nuñez (loosely based on the Jane Austen novel called "Northanger Abbey")

Victor Nuñez's adaptation of the Jane Austen novel called NORTHANGER ABBEY is a mixture of the mundane and the beautiful.

Paradise is not paradise all the time.  You would meet interesting and unforgettable people, but sometimes, you would meet someone, even if you were fairly warned that that person is trouble, you would still be drawn to him due to loneliness, but when you WAKE up, you would realise that he was just a "need" during that specific time or those specific times.

Do I see a touch of the Jane Austen novel in this loosely based adaptation? Yes.  Ruby is Catherine Morland in more ways than one.

Ashley Judd was twenty-five when this was shown and probably younger when this was filming(her role's age is probably somewhere from 19 to her early twenties).  She turned fifty this year so I tried to imagine what was my life like in 1993.  Oh, I was still in Elim then.  I had my ceramic braces taken off earlier than it was supposed to be taken off because I wanted someone to notice my smile, and that's probably why when I had an accident near the airport parking face down(2008), my teeth moved.  I should be grateful because I thought I lost all my teeth.  One of my closest friends said that my teeth would've been intact if I didn't have braces attached to my teeth in my twenties, because according to her, my teeth were perfect when I was much, much younger. 

Was I in love with anyone back then? Yes.  There was also a guy who was deeply in love with me, but I couldn't reciprocate his feelings. I asked him why he fell for me and he said it started when he saw me smile.

Oh my goodness!

Back to the movie...

My personality is so different from Catherine Morland and Ruby Lee Gissing, but I could relate to her inner turmoils.  I may be single now, but I have had my share of obnoxious admirers and some of them I had a relationship with, but I did have some people whom I loved back that are still very much a part of my life and I am even the godmother of their children.  There wives are not even jealous of me because, besides being over with my feelings for them(our relationship transcended to higher heights, so to speak), I respect the sanctity of marriage, but I must admit that there were times in my mind I would get tempted to break some parameters, I never go through with it...I struggle...I fight...with God's help, along with people who care for me, I win.  It's a verrrrrrrrrry hard struggle...a wrestling match, even.

In a way, I am similar to Catherine because of her love for reading, but thankfully, I do have reality checks once in a while.  In Ruby's case, she wasn't really much of a reader until she read The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, a book which Mike claimed was too tame for her, but a good choice.

Did I like the movie?  Yes.  I may not do what Ruby did on a first date, but that act does not define who she is.  She is a good person deep down.

Beautiful Ashley Judd became Ruby for almost two hours.  As for Robert Mitchum's grandson, Bentley, I almost believed that his was a good for nothing twit.  Would I fall for someone like Mike if he really looked like Todd Field? Maybe.  Maybe not.

Beautiful Allison Dean and the ultra respectable Dorothy Lyman, Betsy Douds, Felicia Hernandez, Bobby Barnes and Divya Satia, along with some others, make the movie more interesting. It actually touched my soul.

The movie was not a blockbuster hit, but it did earn $200,000.00 more than its $800,000.00 budget, so it was not a flop.  

Do read Roger Ebert's review about the movie for more insights about the film.  Maybe he did give some spoilers, but one thing I realised about spoilers, it's still different when you watch the movie or TV show yourself, especially if you become involved with the characters.  It's like watching a classic play or a musical several times or different versions of them, you still get excited like it's the first time you've seen it...them. 

I guess that's my two cents worth.

Thanks for your time.  :-)

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Another good read:

RUBY IN PARADISE: A young 

lady's entrance into the world.  

Another Austen Film!