By Spence Blazak
There is an old Twilight Zone episode with more or less the same set up as Ruby Sparks. A sad sack writer describes his ideas into a tape recorder. His wife is his biggest hater, and so he decides to make his next descriptive creation the perfect woman. His imagined being comes to a tangible fruition, she is perfect, commercial break, his life is awesome, blah blah blah, then it is revealed that he actually did the same thing to create his wife as well. He goes to a safe, tears up her recorded description, and she evaporates, leaving him to a happy life with his true Galatea.
It isn't really anything special, which was why I thought Ruby Sparks would end up flat or run itself ashore 30 minutes into the run time. Against all expectations, the story turns out to be a pleasurable yet cerebral romance, as well as a character study on free will and innermost desire.
Calvin (Paul Dano) believes his best days as a writer are behind him. He wrote a best selling coming of age novel when he was 19, and has been trying to follow it up for the last decade. His editors aren't satisfied with his short stories anymore and are breathing down his neck for any word on his next novel.
His brother and therapist try to get to the root of his writer's block with him. It seems like it is something along the lines of internal inadequacies and mental hang-ups from never getting over his ex. The therapist decides to give Calvin a writing assignment to help him out: describe a stranger who meets his scrappy dog and likes him.
Calvin goes home and makes his character the girl he has been dreaming about: Ruby Sparks (Zoe Kazan). Colored leggings, dyed red hair, orphan, born in Dayton, Ohio (because it sounds romantic), a bubbly personality, and deeply in love with him. It can be argued that she is almost a satire of Zooey Deschanel from 500 Days of Summer.
The first act wraps up with obligatory scenes of Ruby coming to life and everyone being confused, but Ruby Sparks takes the important turn in any story set in magical realism by not worrying about answering why this has happened and instead focusing on what comes from it.
Realizing that anything he writes about Ruby on his typewriter will immediately come to pass, Calvin and his brother run with it. His brother points out that this is the perfect gift: he can take away everything about her that irks him, give her big breasts, and get constant sexual favors. The next half hour consists of Calvin tinkering with Ruby and enjoying the honeymoon phase of his relationship.
This is the point where Ruby Sparks sets itself apart. We start to delve into what Calvin actually wants in this relationship, the needs of Ruby that Calvin can't make go away with his typewriter, the essence of free will, and the real power that comes from being a human puppeteer.
Is it Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind? No, but it still takes what could have been a run-of-the-mill romance and makes it a cerebral and refreshing modern take on Pygmalion.
Directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Feris of Little Miss Sunshine fame, the film takes on an interesting meta aspect. Just as Calvin is trying to follow up is first novel, which has become a modern classic, Dayton and Feris are following up their wildly successful debut film (now six years old). The style utilizes a shaky camera at times and a tone that goes for a bit more of a realistic vibe than its predecessor, making it all the more interesting when the character of Ruby comes to pass.
The script is penned by Zoe Kazan, Ruby herself, and its greatest triumph is that it doesn't realize how smart it is. In an age when lots of indie movies pat themselves on the back from start to finish, Ruby Sparks is overly humble. In this respect, one of the film's biggest downfalls is that because its cerebral aspects are so great that you wish you got even more.
Despite this, Kazan shows expertise well beyond her age as a writer, bringing to mind a Diablo Cody that doesn't make me want to put my head through a brick wall. Smart dialogue, real characters, doesn't over do it, and ends with a soft landing. While this ending was safe and a bit of a cop out, I’m anxiously awaiting Kazan’s next piece.
Don't judge Ruby Sparks by its trailer, because it doesn't give itself enough credit. Whether you are hoping for a romance or a mental mind blow, it is one of the more pleasurable film experiences of the year so far. Plus…..there’s a cute little dog in it!
If What Women Want is a one star-er, and Groundhogs Day is a four star-er, Ruby Sparks gets a solid three stars.
