Black Ruby is a drama about hustlers and jazz musicians struggling to create a hit when a black-Hispanic escort interrupts their lives.
I’m not sure why, but it wasn’t long into co-director Zachary Laoutides‘ film Black Ruby when my mind drifted to Steve Kloves‘ The Fabulous Baker Boys, a far different film in so many respects but centered similarly around two musical men taken by the allure of a beautiful woman. There’s little else about these movies that connects them of course, most especially one being a major studio release and the other a small independent film shot mostly on an iPhone. That’s not to say Black Ruby isn’t impactful, for what it lacks in production value it makes up for in story and a handful of committed performances.
Luis Katz (Laoutides) and friend Jules Mandel (Joseph Mennella) are an odd pair. Jules is a sort of slimy hustler, unhappily engaged to Christiana (Carmen Santiago Keenon), a woman who sees he’s not amounting to much, full of broken plans for success, but won’t let him go. Luis is a scrapper, winning bets in street fights, but like his pal, longs to make a hit jazz song, the two struggling to find a way to make that work. Into the mix comes Ruby (Krystal E. Heredia) a troubled young woman making ends meet as an escort. She soon becomes a wedge and it’s not long before Jules and Luis are in a spiral, as eventual truths cast them into the shadows.
Low key is the magic phrase here, Black Ruby a decidedly small film shot in a few select locations, mostly a diner, Jules’ apartment, and a few back lots where punches are thrown. As mentioned, much of it is shot with an iPhone (7) and as such, has a home movie feel, and accompanying audio dips to boot, but that’s not to take away from the filmmaker’s efforts, who manage to stitch together a meaty little tale that has a kind of 50s pulpy drive-in edge to it, complete with a few classic recordings of the time, including scratchy cuts of Arthur Johnston‘s The Moon Got In My Eyes and Sammy Fain‘s That Old Feeling played at particularly appropriate moments.
This is an actor’s movie, so those looking for fancy edits and directorial flourishes may feel a little unsatisfied, the movie mostly a talky 90 minutes built around a doomed triangle. Laoutides pulls double duty as co-director (along with La Raza and Mónica Esmeralda León) and lead actor and is easily the most affecting of the bunch, even as others pull their weight. He’s got great presence and a natural air about him that gives Luis a terrific sense of place. Mennella goes big and brassy, clearly influenced by or perhaps homaging the bulky square jaws of classic black & whites (directly quoting one of the most famous and his most memorable line), which for those maybe unfamiliar, might be a little awkward, but if that’s his intent, nails it.
There’s much that works, especially in the script, with a few effective emotional turns that land, though there are some hiccups, including a loose splattering of barely there narration that feels tacked on and entirely unnecessary. There’s also an almost complete lack of music from the characters who are supposed to be trying to write a song, making their pressing need to do so feel strangely absent. Either way, there’s a lot that should be noticed in Black Ruby, despite its flaws, a sometimes raw, sometimes affecting, always earnest effort.