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,
