Elderly Ruby's (Jane Seymour) memory hasn't been the best anymore of late, but so far her daughter Sharon (Jacqheline McKenzie) has figured she's perfectly capable of taking care of herself - until of course Ruby burns down her house and almost dies in the fire. And since she has nowhere else to go, Sharon, her husband Doug (Stephen Hunter) and their daughter Tash (Coco Jack Gillies) take her in. And because they also have to take in Doug's brother Ken (Brendan Donoghue), who's going through a divorce, and his son Ned (Rory Potter), it's decided that Ruby will bunk up in Tash's room, much to the dismay of the girl. After leaving her alone in the house for a single day though, a day that results in utter chaos, it's decided that Ruby can't be left on her own. But money's tight, and both Sharon and Doug are working full time out of necessity, looking after Ruby falls upon Tash, even if she has to be taken out of school for it, and initially the girl is all but happy about this. But even though Ruby's quite a handful due to her dementia, Tash manages to bond with her on a deeper level before long, and she starts enjoying looking after Ruby. And then one night, she learns from a confused Ruby a family secret that might change everything ...

Of course, Ruby's Choice does have its tearjerker moments and isn't totally free of clichés, but overall it's a pretty heartfelt movie that chooses understatement over exaggeration, laces its very serious basic narrative with just the right dose of humour to not overwhelm the audience with sadness, and a very subtle directorial effort gives the story enough space to breathe. And Jane Seymour in the title role gives a very fine performance, helped by a pretty strong ensemble, with especially Coco Jack Gillies) lifting more than her own weight, to help make this a very worthwhile movie.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

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