Ruby Sparks
Bradley Burgess | Rawr Reviews
Creative ideas are only as good as their execution.
Take “Ruby Sparks,” a struggling writer (Paul Dano) writes about his dream girl and gets a shock when Ruby Sparks (Zoe Kazan) turns up in his apartment.
Now, that’s really clever. But the material, good as it may be, is very dependent on good actors to pull it off. Luckily, directors Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton (“Little Miss Sunshine”) are aware of what the story needs to function.
Dano portrays Calvin just right: not quite a loser, but enough to earn sympathy from the audience. Calvin’s first outing into the writing world was a massive hit, so he understandably is having difficulty finding a way to follow it up. The pressure and expectations of the world get to him and he plays it just well enough that when Ruby appears, we want them to get together.
But the real star here is Kazan. In addition to playing the title character, she also wrote the screenplay. Knowing that Ruby will make or break the film, Kazan appeals to everyone’s inner romantic side with the character. Ruby is a flirt, a fun lover and just fun to watch. We like her and care about the romance because we want both these characters to be happy.
That said, Kazan gets us to care first before really testing the characters and the relationship between them. Before the conflict in the love story occurs, viewers will invest because the characters are so well written. Potential filmmakers will eat this film up, as it takes fun and inventive risks in telling it’s story.
“Ruby Sparks” is a fun crowd pleaser of a movie. Whether you’re a storyteller looking for inspiration or just a romantic softie, it’ll appeal to almost everyone.