Ruby in Paradise (1993) review

Morose little film about the struggle to survive as told from the perspective of a young woman (Ashley Judd) who works in a retail store in Florida and just wants to live as simply as possible. Complications arise in what Nuñez views as two polar opposites: the slick, sexual manipulator (Bentley Mitchum) and the neo-Socialist intellectual (Todd Field) who both vie for Judd's affections - both, incidentally, are wrong for her. Aside from Judd's precious voice-over narration and the film's argument that you shouldn't strive for wealth (Mitchum) or an independent existence outside meaningless retail jobs (Field) - and that you just take it all one day at a time (which isn't exactly inspiring) - it's quiet and well-observed.