Greetings,
We writers can be quite a strange bunch, especially to outsiders. I've met some people who just cannot understand how we get so deeply invested in the worlds we create and so attached to our characters, even thinking that they're real. I try to explain that we are invested because that is a necessity, and we think our characters are real because they are. And they must be for us, so they are that way to whomever may read our work. I mean, some characters do become more real than others, and occasionally, we have a few with whom we fall madly in love. We fall so much in love that we wish they were really real, an actual living person. I have certainly felt that way about some of mine. Of course, we all think that in a way where we never really think it would happen. But what if it did? And that brings us to the film Ruby Sparks.
Ruby Sparks is a beautifully quirky film about a writer named Calvin Weir-Fields, played by the criminally underrated Paul Dano. And I don't use the term "criminally" lightly. Remember when he was robbed of an Oscar for There Will Be Blood? Anyway, Calvin wrote a book in his teens which was extremely praised, and he has been spending the last ten years trying to recreate that success. Unfortunately, none of his ideas are inspiring enough for him to nurture into a whole story. One day, Calvin's therapist gives him a writing assignment, but he ends up having a dream about a woman named Ruby Sparks about whom he is inspired to write. Our titular character of Ruby is played by Zoe Kazan, Dano's real-life girlfriend and the writer of this movie's script. You know how I said this was beautifully quirky? Well, that is also how I would describe Zoe. I've come to really love her as an actress, and I absolutely love seeing her and Paul together here. Cute doesn't even begin to cover it. Anyway, back the story.
Calvin goes into great detail about Ruby, and after having created her in her entirety, he wakes up one day and finds her in his house. A living, breathing person that he made up on paper has seemingly come to life. Of course, he thinks he is going crazy and that Ruby is still just a figment of his own imagination, but soon he realizes that other people can also see and interact with her. Although, he still has control over her actions and behavior through his writing, sending them both into a hills and valleys emotional journey of a relationship. Calvin eventually comes to see that having so much power over someone, even someone that you have created yourself, can be more difficult than he ever imagined.
Ruby Sparks is a film that takes you on something of an adventure for which you can't even hope to make plans, since you have no idea what is coming next, or what Calvin will make Ruby do or be next. As emotionally engaging as it is, it's also really fun. The comedy is quite clever, and it mixes together perfectly with the heavier themes to which we are exposed. Of course, this is because of the brilliance of the script, but the cast of actors carries it all extremely well. I have already given praise to the two leads, but we also get great performances from Elliot Gould, Antonio Banderas, Toni Trucks, Deborah Ann Woll, Steve Coogan and Annette Benning, who, by the way, looks gorgeous. The modern day hippie thing seems to work well for her. However, if I must single out one of these secondary actors, I choose Chris Messina, He was fantastic in this as Calvin's brother, Harry. He's hilarious, especially in the scenes where Calvin lets him in on the insane story of Ruby's origins. This is just a really amazing cast from the smallest parts to the leads, and doesn't that just make for a fine movie.
Oh, and I would be remiss to not mention the directors. Yes, directors, plural, as in two, as in Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris. Previously known for their groundbreaking and innovative work on music videos, they made their first film in 2006, Little Miss Sunshine, wherein Paul Dano was also a cast member. Their two projects were six years apart, this due to the couple looking for just the right story to tell. Good things come to those who wait, or more accurately, great things.
So, in closing, I love Ruby Sparks. Rarely do I see a film that is the best kind of weird and also the best kind of simple, all at the same time, but it was able to be that, effortlessly. I definitely recommend this to everyone, and I also recommend that Zoe Kazan continue on with her writing. She has certainly got a gift.
Love and full moons,
Becky the Writer
