Ruby Sparks

2012 • 104 minutes

About this movie

From the directors of Little Miss Sunshine comes an engaging and charming romantic comedy starring Paul Dano and writer-actress Zoe Kazan. Struggling with writer's block and a lackluster love life, once-famous novelist Calvin (Dano) creates a beautiful fictitious character named Ruby (Kazan), who inspires him. But not only does this bring his work to life -- it also brings Ruby to life -- literally! Face-to-face with an actual relationship with his once-virtual girlfriend, Calvin must now decide whether to pen this love story or let it write itself. Also starring Annette Bening, Antonio Banderas and Elliott Gould, Ruby Sparks is an inspired coming of age story that proves true love can be magical.

Ratings and reviews

I thought that this film was fresh at the start. Calvin an extremely flawed and hardly likable character creates the perfect girl and she's not just perfect for him, she is perfect for everyone, being diplomatic and friendly. He then fusses over this perfect girl and she "loses her inner compass," then the film takes a serious turn and begins to follow the template that all romantic comedies follow. I thought this movie was fresh and unique until it fell into tropes.

This movie was quite a rollercoaster for me. It's so happy and joyful, yet when the dark twist comes around (which is to be expected in typical movie formulaic) it seemed to exceed anything I had dreamed of. To a point where it was almost painful to watch. Though plowing through that moment is completely worth it as in the end the movie leaves you with a whole and good feeling. I'd recommend this for most anyone. Paul Dano is fantastic and remarkable. I could relate to him as a character so well, though I must say Zoe Kazan is not only absolutely gorgeous but one of the greatest emotional actors I've seen all year. I'd recommend this for sure. Just be sure to not turn it off once you hit the dark brick wall.

Really creative story that takes its premise pretty deep. It's refreshing to see some of the darker side explored in this type of movie. Well acted and written, Zoe kazan is a big talent.