Wierd Writing
At the age of 19 Calvin (Paul Dano) had dropped out of school and already hit the top of the best sellers list with his first novel. 10 years later and the only novel he has out there is a 10th edition of his novel. His inability to come up with even a sentence for a new book is getting to him and he is seeing therapist Dr. Rosenthal (Elliott Gould) as he is struggling with dreams of a girl. But his dream girl, Ruby (Zoe Kazan), causes him to become inspired until a week later he is shocked to find Ruby in his home completely smitten which causes Calvin to question whether or not he has gone insane.
Prior to watching "Ruby Sparks" I remembered I had clipped the synopsis out of the paper when it was first released, I don't know why I clipped the synopsis but I remember the movie intrigued me. Now the good thing is that it meant I got to watch a movie just with the knowledge of the synopsis and no other opinions or plot spoilers and it was a great experience especially when after watching the movie the first review I came across basically spoiled the entire movie by divulging way too much.
So what shall I tell you about "Ruby Sparks"; well Paul Dano's performance as Calvin is fantastic because initially be comes across like an old man who has settled in to his own ways. From the passive look from behind his glasses, his dress sense and everything else makes him such a wonderfully curious character. It is because Dano fills him with many quirks and mannerisms that when the story evolves it gets really entertaining. Plus Dano works so well with Kazan who is a ball of energy.
But beyond the performances we have the story which is Calvin's dream woman Ruby coming to life and the consequences of this from Calvin initially thinks he is going mad to then convincing his brother that Ruby is real. There is some wonderful creativity to all this and a lot of humour but a constant sense of mystery as to where is this all going to go and trust me I am not going to say because the mystery is a huge part of what makes "Ruby Sparks" works although for a dream woman there is realism as well.
What this all boils down to is that "Ruby Sparks" is a smart, fun comedy which is best watched with just the minimum amount of knowledge as it will draw you in and keep you interested through the evolving storyline.
