Flailing dementia drama strikes too many false notes
Ruby’s Choice (PG, 117 mins ) Directed by Michael Budd Reviewed by James Croot ★★1⁄2
From Amore to Away From Her, Supernova to Still Alice, plus the audacious and rightly-acclaimed The Father, there have been some powerful, poignant and thoughtprovoking movies about dementia in the past 15 years. Unfortunately, Ruby’s Choice is not one of them.
You can see director Michael Budd, writer Paul Mahoney and executive producer Sir Owen Glenn have their hearts in the right place (especially since 50% of the film’s profits are earmarked for the latter’s dementia research foundation), but this flailing familial drama strikes too many false notes and features too many contrived speeches and moments to truly compel.
Designed, importantly, to remind us that no-one is worth any less because they have cognitive impairment, the story is inconsistently told from the perspective of teenager Tash, a very impressive Coco Jack Gillies.
Already going through a tough time as her parents struggle to make ends meet, things ‘‘go to hell’’ when her uncle and cousin come to stay because of a marital breakdown, and grandma Ruby (Jane Seymour) needs a place to stay after a fire at her house.
She claims it was arson, perhaps the same people who stole her car just days earlier, but all Tash cares about is that she is being turfed out of her own room. That frustration turns to anger when Ruby’s inattention manages to kill Tash’s beloved fish.
She also can’t understand why her parents ‘‘play along’’ when Ruby mentions daily that she’s waiting for her long-dead husband Frank to show up to take her back home.
But Tash’s family decide something has to change when police confirm that a frying pan left on the gas was the fire’s cause and Ruby’s insurance company insists her policy lapsed years ago.
However, with support services offering more acronyms than simple solutions, Tash’s mother Sharon (Jacqueline McKenzie) refusing to put Ruby in a care home and money tight, a controversial decision is made without any consultation with those most affected. Tash will stay at home from school to keep Ruby out of trouble.
Perhaps the most jaw-dropping narrative decision in an overstuffed, overly-soapy script (every character seems to be having an identity crisis), it made me question which era this was supposed to be set in. Board games and a record player are prominently displayed in the lounge, but a teenager is seen clearly talking on a smartphone.
Only Ruby’s regular visits to see Red Dog (a film released in 2011) at the local cinema provided any anchor, but why set this a decade ago if, as many scenes indicate, it’s supposed to be an indictment on the Australian government’s support for families who have loved ones with dementia?
Seymour and Gillies aside, some of the acting is best described as uneven and the soundtrack is a touch too cloying and emotionally manipulative. In the end, I wasn’t convinced that mindsets hadn’t been changed because of the revelation of a family secret, rather than a greater understanding that ‘‘grandma’’ needed respect, dignity and a say in her future.
There’s a lot of talk of lawyers here – thanks to Tash’s uncle’s marriage breakdown – and yet there’s not a whiff of anyone suggesting how an enduring power of attorney could help (and could have helped) the family with Ruby.
Ruby’s Choice is now screening in select cinemas nationwide.