Ruby Sparks tells the story of a tormented writer, Calvin (Paul Dano), who received quick fame and a cult following when he was just 19-years-old, through a well embraced debut novel. The film begins ten years on with him suffering from writers block and feeling very lonely, in search of the perfect woman. He soon channels his yearning into an old fashioned typewriter. Depressed by the imagined lifetime of loneliness and career disappointment stretching ahead, Calvin starts having vivid dreams about a beautiful young woman called Ruby Sparks (played by Zoe Kazan). The dreams become more vivid as Calvin starts writing about his fantasy, who soon appears, in whole, in his house.
The film brings an impressive debut in Zoe Kazan, who produces, screen-writes and stars in this fantasy romantic comedy. The genre is difficult to pigeonhole, but if you imagine a mash-up of romantic fantasy, meta-fiction and magical realism then you've pretty covered most of the usual rules and conventions. Directed by Little Miss Sunshine's (2006) Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, the film delivers their typical stylised and inventive look. Ambitious and artful, it's both a breakout and a comeback for Kazan and an overdue return for the directing duo.
Influences here are apparent from various screen-writers, such as Charlie Kaufman and Woody Allen. What makes this approach interesting is that the writing is very much in the style and pace of these two script masterminds but from the opposite gender perspective. Rather than asking what it would be like to create an ideal woman, Kazan asks what it's like, having to be some man's idea of an ideal woman. Believe it or not, the idea is plausible simply because it doesn't ask too many questions.
Kazan executes every inch of the sadness found in a relationship destined to turn sour. The gender politics and downbeat reality of a couple growing apart is captured perfectly but with an added twist of fantasy that I'm sure all of us sometimes dream of. If we could just cut something out of their personality or add something to it, would we? I'm sure you know the answer but if you need some help then watch this and you'll soon see how much fun such a talent would bring.
'Smart, literate and romantic, it's this year's (500) Days Of Summer, but with a few more shadows. Like Calvin, you'll find it hard to resist Ms Sparks'
James Mottram - Total Film
'This impressive fantasy romance about a lonely novelist who magics a gorgeous female character into life is weirdly plausible'
Peter Bradshaw - The Guardian
Check out the trailer below:
Ruby Sparks can be seen on Tuesday 27th at 2pm & 7.45pm, Wednesday 28th at 7.45pm and Thursday 29th November at 7.45pm.
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