In the Indie film "Ruby Sparks," Paul Dano plays a former wunderkind novelist who has hit the wall and run into permanent writer's block. His social life is non-existent and he decides to consult a psychiatrist (Elliot Gould) for some answers to his dilemma. Since all else has failed, his shrink suggests that for inspiration he begin writing about what occurs in his dreams. Dano takes the advice to heart and starts to write about the perfect girl of his dreams (beautiful, smart, sexy, totally endearing). Through the magic of Hollywood and an off-beat screenplay, "Ruby Sparks" (played by Zoe Kazan) suddenly turns up "in the flesh." In fact, she's already living in Dano's house and has been there for quite a while. At first Dano thinks he's losing his mind, or at the least, seeing things. But everyone else sees Ruby too, so she has to be real...or is she? Dano soon finds out that as he continues to write about her, he can actually control her personality and emotions, good or bad. But having this type of power is not healthy for any relationship, real or imagined. Without giving away the ending, you might say that Dano has to "write her off." Call this a warped "My Fair Lady" tale, but the actors (particularly Dano and Kazan who are lovers in real life) pull it off with aplomb. In fact, Ms. Kazan, the grand-daughter of the great film director Elia Kazan, wrote the screenplay. The directors of "Ruby Sparks," Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, are the same duo who brought us "Little Miss Sunshine," and their sensibilities for character development are of the same high standard as that film. Others in the cast include Antonio Banderas and Annette Bening who give excellent support as Dano's high-energy stepfather and free-spirited mother. I won't give the movie and "A" for originality since this territory has been mined before, but the rest of its ideas and the execution of it are all first-rate.
Review of Ruby Sparks
