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

Review No.1: Mother and Child

So here we are the first review of a film released in the UK in 2012. And it is one that originally appeared in the US in 2009. Mother and Child is directed by Rodrigo Garcia, whose other film Albert Nobbs is being reviewed very soon, but more importantly produced by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu director of Babel and 21 Grams. Like those films Mother and Child features various stories that link together as the story goes on with all three stories featuring themes of motherhood. Annette Bening stars as Karen a woman who gave up her baby when she was a teenager with this child now being a thirty-something lawyer named Elizabeth played by Naomi Watts. We follow the story of both of these women who have been affected by the adoption with Karen being very cold towards most people and Elizabeth being very matter-of-fact and throwing herself into her work as a lawyer. The third story follows Kerry Washington's Lucy trying to adopt a child with mixed results and as you would expect this story interlinks with the others before the film's end.

Mother and Child definitely has its moments and most of that comes from the performances, Watts especially shines in a role which is quite hard to sympathise with but she is able to convey a woman who has gone through emotional hardships and as a result of this has become cold. Annette Bening is also great although Karen is a character that is hard work she eventually softens when she forms a relationship with her co-worker played by Jimmy Smits. And I would be amiss if I didn't mention Samuel L Jackson as Elizabeth's worthy boss he puts in a turn that is very understated something you don't see from Jackson very often. Mother and Child's main problem is that it outstays its welcome and everything seemed to be drawn out so that the final scene would have more significance but for me I felt that there was at least some parts that could've been cut and some characters who weren't afforded much time to develop. Overall Mother and Child is a solid drama with some strong performances but there's nothing that marks this film out than more than that.

Verdict: For a solid drama a solid 5.5 out of 10 should do the trick.