Ruby

The film opens with Jack Ruby reflecting on his past, describing it as a dream and questioning whether it truly happened. The narration establishes a subjective, memory-forward tone that colors the entire story. Viewers sense that what unfolds will blur fact and imagination.

A disturbing image appears: a man in a suit tortured, hung on a meat hook, and drained of blood. The scene serves as a brutal warning to an unseen target and signals the dangerous forces surrounding Ruby. The stark violence sets the film's mood of menace and conspiracy.

In 1962 Dallas, Ruby runs the Carousel Club, a burlesque venue that is slipping into decline. He observes an aging dancer with disappointment and frets about the club's future. The financial and reputational pressures frame Ruby's subsequent choices.

Ruby delivers narcotics to two corrupt Dallas police officers, illustrating his connection to criminal underworld networks. The arrangement exposes the complicity between law enforcement and organized crime that permeates the story. This alliance helps sustain the club and Ruby's power in the city.

Sheryl Ann DuJean is seen with a facial bruise, signaling domestic abuse and vulnerability. The moment hints at a life of hardship and the possibility of rescue or exploitation. It plants the seed for her later appearance in Ruby's orbit.

Ruby meets Sheryl Ann in a diner and offers her food and a place to stay, making clear that his concern is protective rather than romantic. She accepts and moves into the apartment above the Carousel Club. This marks the start of a tense, evolving partnership.

When a dancer cancels, Sheryl Ann volunteers to perform as Candy Cane, delivering a bold, skilled routine. Ruby realizes she’s no stranger to the stage and could revitalize the club. A candid, honest friendship forms between Ruby and Candy as the crowds respond.

Old mob associate Louie Vitali arrives with a secret job in Cuba that Ruby is expected to take over. Ruby invites Candy to come along, signaling a shift from local scheming to international crime. The trip to Havana sets the plot on a broader stage.

In private, Vitali urges Ruby to kill Santos Alicante, but Ruby instead shoots Vitali and bribes guards to free Santos. Candy and Ruby escape by boat and make their way to New Orleans. The sequence pivots Ruby away from Vitali’s plan and into a new circle of survivors.

Ruby uses an old contact to obtain new identity papers for Santos, enabling him to disappear on his own path. Candy and Ruby return to Dallas, where Candy begins to emerge as the club’s main attraction. Santos goes his own way, separating from Ruby’s inner circle.

Back at the club, Maxwell visits Ruby and implies government ties, pressing him to start informing on Santos and his associates. The encounter heightens the sense of a CIA-mob conspiracy framing Ruby’s every move. The pressure intensifies as the political stakes rise.

Ruby and Candy travel to Las Vegas, where Santos has opened a casino and President John F. Kennedy attends a gala. Candy sits at the President’s table as Ferrie and others discuss plans to smuggle explosive cigars to Fidel Castro. Maxwell hints at an even bigger target, deepening the sense of looming danger.

Ferrie and Diego travel to New Orleans to recruit Lee Harvey Oswald, with Oswald acting as a handler for a larger operation. The scene ties local mob plots to national political violence and foreshadows the upcoming tragedy. Tension builds as Ruby’s world edges toward a historic conspiracy.

On November 22, 1963, JFK is assassinated in Dallas, with on-screen depictions of multiple shooters and Ruby watching the aftermath on television. Later, Ruby fatally shoots Oswald during a police transfer, a decision that seals his fate. The act intertwines personal vendetta with a national trauma.

In prison, Ruby refuses to plead insanity or explain himself, insisting on testifying in Washington, which never comes. He is convicted and sentenced to death, and he dies of cancer in prison in 1967. His death closes a chapter on a life tangled in crime, myth, and political intrigue.