Love isn't the only hazard in 'Mining for Ruby'

Mining for Ruby unearths love, Alaskan style.

Directed by Zoe Quist, the indie drama — on video on demand beginning Aug. 1 — stars Daniel Ponickly as a widower named Jack who's in a downward spiral of depression, and Antoinette Kalaj is Ruby, a grad student studying environmental engineering in the 49th state, where the movie was actually filmed.

After incessant persuading from his sister (Mischa Barton), Jack finally leaves the cozy confines of his cabin in Alaska and luckily meets and falls quickly for Ruby. However, this love story is not destined to be an easy one — she not only has a psycho ex (Jonathan Bennett) who likes a good scrap but Ruby also throws the whole town into a tizzy when, against the advice of her professor (Billy Zane), she inadvertently gets embroiled in a poisonous waste crisis.