Review No.183: Ruby Sparks

Plot: Paul Dano stars as Calvin a depressed novelist who is trying to live up to the success he achieved with his first book that he wrote when he was still at school. Calvin's therapist suggests he write something terrible about a girl who likes his do and he creates Ruby Sparks eventually falling in love with her. Calvin freaks out when Ruby appears in his kitchen one day however he discovers that he has made her real and can actually write her to do whatever he wants. Instead of making use of this power he believes that Ruby is the perfect woman so vows not to change him however soon his depressive nature starts to stifle her and she begins to spend less time with him. After a painful visit to his mother's house Ruby starts to change her opinion of Calvin which in turn makes him consider whether or not he should change her personality as he has that power.

Positives: Writer and star Zoe Kazan's script is an inventive piece that has lots of fun jokes and gets very dark towards the end. The use of light and shade in the cinematography is fairly well used while the film's score is also quite pleasant. Paul Dano is excellent in this leading role as he really encapsulates the misanthropic Calvin and by the end we learn why he can't maintain a relationship as well as why he has writer's block. The film also boasts a great supporting cast including Steve Coogan as a sleazy author and Annette Bening and Antonio Banderas as Calvin's mother and her partner with the pair both playing kooky to the max. Kazan herself is also great as the upbeat Zoe who is eventually dragged down by Calvin's moods and she also plays it excellently during the aforementioned darker scenes.

Negatives: Ultimately the film doesn't have the courage of its convictions as Calvin comes good and I thought the ending absolutely sucked as I personally thought it could've been left more open-ended. The film also takes a while to get going and I found it incredibly difficult to connect with Calvin before Ruby came along.

Verdict: An inventive film that has a fairly mainstream ending and while I enjoyed it I expected more from the team behind Little Miss Sunshine so for that reason Ruby Sparks receives a 7.5/10