Box Office bombs are either received with mockery from audiences or disappointment at what could have been. However, what often goes overlooked is their greater effects on those involved with the project and how they can leave a stain on their careers and, in some cases, outright ruin them. While it is hard to feign sympathy for a massive production company when their million-dollar project does not land with audiences, the trickle-down effect on every aspect of the production is unfortunate for everyone involved.
What is worse than a flop that has audiences able to poke fun or comment on the film’s fallacies? It is a movie that barely gets recognized and is forgotten to time, especially if you are paying for it. The Andie MacDowell and Liam Neeson-led drama Ruby Cairo (later re-marketed as Deception) was such a colossal failure that it died in obscurity and almost entirely sunk the production company behind it. We will examine how the film became such a disaster and how the producers avoided ruination despite the substantial loss.
Ruby Cairo Plot and Cast
Ruby Cairo follows Bessie Faro, who is left in financial and emotional ruin after the death of her husband, Johhny, who perished in a plane crash. When she finds a deck of cards marked by Johnny that alludes to bank account numbers, this takes her on a global adventure to secure the funds he had tucked away.
As she slowly unravels the secret life that Johnny led, she begins to believe that he was involved in nefarious business practices and may have faked his death to evade authorities. She finds an ally in Fergus Lamb, a philanthropist aiding in charitable organizations who is a victim of illegal transportation of harmful chemicals through his organizations. The two develop a romantic relationship as Bessie gets closer and closer to learning the truth.
Andie MacDowell plays the role of Bessie, bringing a notable name to the production from recent successes like Hudson Hawke and The Player; the same year, and she would also appear in the ’90s comedy classicGroundhog Day the following year. Her romantic interest, Fergus Lamb, is played by Liam Neeson.
Neeson was coming off of what was his biggest lead role to date in Simon Moore’s 1991 thriller Under Suspicion, after having notable co-starring roles in movies like the Dirty Harry movie The Dead Pool and Cher-led legal thriller Suspect (1989). Viggo Mortensen played Johnny, which predated the actor’s successful later breakthrough roles. The movie was directed by Australian director Graeme Clifford, whose movie, Gleaming the Cube, still stands as the director’s most critically acclaimed work.
What Went Wrong With Ruby Cairo?
Despite its big-name draw and luxurious setting, Ruby Cairo barely made a blip on the international stage; the movie has 0 critic reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. Though that is not to say the film was not covered on release, with Kim Newman’s review for Empire summing up a lot of sentiments around the time; “the plot remains at once murky and predictable, the villains are so obvious that real-life international criminals might want to complain they are being misrepresented by the movies, and the supposed romance between MacDowell and Neeson is an embarrassing non-sparker.”
It appears the cast was equally disdainful, with a tweet only available through the Way Back Machine where Andie MacDowell revealed the director was always stoned. There is no record of Liam Neeson speaking out about the film, likely due to the lack of press coverage surrounding its release. The movie was a box office bomb, grossing $608,866 in the United States on an estimated budget of $24 million (over $52 million with inflation).
Ruby Cairowas primarily funded by Haruki Kadokawa, owner of Japanese production powerhouse Kadokawa Shoten. Kadokawa is best known internationally for its anime productions, including the work of Makoto Shinkai, who broke records with the release of Your Name in 2016. However, the company had been active since the early ’70s; Kadokawa would slowly build up an impressive body of films, many of which gained international attention.
In the ’80s, the company would produce 39 features, including an attempt at an international film, Virus by famed director Kinji Fukasaku, that would mark the most expensive Japanese production at the time. Virus was not the intended success, but Haruki Kadokawa’s goal to pierce the international market can be traced back to the early ’80s.
Best 90s Movies Featuring an Ensemble Cast, Ranked
From Jurassic Park to Goodfellas, here’s a look back at the best movies of the 1990s featuring an ensemble cast.
How Did Kadokawa Come Back From the Loss?
This ambition led to Ruby Cairo, with Kadokawa investing a large amount for the period to produce a film that would allow them to compete with Hollywood in the West. However, the movie’s struggle for distribution, theater space, and lack of interest made it one of the biggest box office disasters ever for a Japanese-produced movie. Though there is little publicity about how Kadokawa Shoten handled the massive loss, the output in the ’90s going down to 11 productions (only six after the release of Ruby Cairo) shows a company reeling from the losses and re-assessing its approach. Comparatively, in the 2000s, Kadokawa Shoten would go back to a full schedule producing 44 movies that decade.
The Japanese giant and Ruby Cairo‘s connection is buried online, with the only indication coming from Haruki Kadokawa’s name listed as producer. This is not surprising given the prestige the company had garnered, being considered one of the biggest Japanese production companies of live-action cinema along with Toho, Shochiku, and Toei.
Their washing their hands of such an embarrassing disaster makes sense. The Kadokawa empire slowly pushed aside the loss with the luxury of scaling back without going under by focusing on the other branches of media they had already established, such as their publishing wing. This also yielded success, including the surprise domestic hit Parasite Eve, which would help define modern Japanese horror.
Is Ruby Cairo as Bad as They Say, and Is it Worth Watching?
With the big names, exotic locations, Andie MacDowell’s observation about a constantly stoned director, and the empty pandering of ‘Americanisms,’ it is difficult to shake the impression that Ruby Cairo was just a payday for those involved and a worldwide vacation at the expense of the Japanese media giant. The movie is beyond tedious, and the budget feels drastically inflated compared to the final result.
Ultimately, it’s a series of uninspired conversations, a tepid romance, and a long-drawn-out twist that lands painfully flat. Besides the pristine locations, the biggest positive is that Andie MacDowell manages a convincing performance with the horrendous script handed to her. Comparatively, Liam Neeson and Viggo Mortensen give the least inspired performances of their careers.
Worst Comedy Movies of All Time, According to Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert was not one to mince words, and his classic critiques of bad mainstream comedy movies were sometimes funnier than the films themselves.
Ruby Cairo‘s ultimate sin is one of the worst. It is, simply put, boring. This would also explain its attempt to re-market the movie under the more enticing name Deception. Still, even with the name change and the poster showcasing its star power, the movie has remained largely a side note in the careers of those involved and a slight stain on Kadokawa’s legacy.
You can watch the box office failure by renting it on Amazon for the nominal amount of $2, but Ruby Cairo can be viewed for free on YouTube. However, the only reason to check out the movie is to see how a Japanese company almost got ruined by one of the most bland, uninspired big-budget movies ever made.
