Joseph Ruben
About
Biography
Biography
Ruben made his feature directorial debut at the ripe age of 24 with the bleak psychodrama "The Sister-in-Law" (1975). His subsequent work has included two low-budget looks at high school life ("The Pom Pom Girls" 1976, "Our Winning Season" 1978), a road movie ("Joyride" 1977), a nifty sci-fi thriller, "Dreamscape" (1984), starring Dennis Quaid, Max von Sydow, and Christopher Plummer and an engaging legal drama, "True Believer" (1989), starring James Woods and Robert Downey, Jr. Ruben seems at his best, however, when exploring the dark underbelly of that most sacred of American institutions, the family: cult favorite "The Stepfather" (1987) has "family man" Terry O'Quinn moving from town to town, settling in with a fatherless family, and then slaying them; "Sleeping with the Enemy" (1991), Ruben's first big commercial hit, sees Julia Roberts faking her own death in order to escape her obsessively possessive husband. He turned his attention to the children in "The Good Son" (1993) wherein the good Elijah Wood tries to warn his family about the pure murderous evil of his cousin Macaulay Culkin.
Filmography
Director (Feature Film)
Writer (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Life Events
1975
Wrote and directed first feature, "The Sister-in-Law"
1980
Directed the pilot for the TV series, "Breaking Away"
1984
Directed Dennis Quaid in the sci-fi thriller "Dreamscape" also penned the script
1989
Directed James Woods and Robert Downey Jr. in "True Believer"
1991
Directed Julia Roberts in "Sleeping with the Enemy" about a battered wife who escapes her husband to start a new life
1993
Directed Macaulay Culkin and Elijah Wood in "The Good Son"
1995
Directed Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson as New York transit cops in "Money Train" also starred Jennifer Lopez
1998
Directed "Return to Paradise" a story of two friends who must choose whether to help a third friend who was arrested in Malaysia for drug possession; starred Vince Vaughn and Joaquin Phoenix
2004
Directed the thriller "The Forgotten" starring Julianne Moore
Videos
Movie Clip
