Ruby Sparks (2012) starring Zoe Kazan

What do you get when you combine RomCom with Magic Realism and mix in some human failings?  You get a film like Ruby Sparks.

Calvin was a child genius of the literary world, having written and published a best-selling book by the time he was nineteen.  Now in his twenties, things are not going so well for Calvin:  he has writer's block, and he is love-lorn.  His psychiatrist innocuously asks Calvin to write one page about the kind of person he would like to meet.  Calvin does as he is asked, and to his astonishment his dream girl becomes a 3-D living young woman who calls herself Ruby Sparks.  Can an ideal fantasy become the ideal reality?

Haven't we seen this kind of thing before in the myth of Pygmalion and in Woody Allen's The Purple Rose of Cairo?  Well, yes. Does Ruby Sparks give a fresh spin on this sub-genre?  Yes and no.  What we do see is how Calvin, having had his dream come true, botches this chance for happiness. That is nothing new; however, we are shown a vision of what an insecure, self-centred person may be capable of should they gain a god-like control over another individual, especially when that individual is a young woman who is showing signs of having a mind of her own.  Interest lies in how this 'problem' will play itself out.  Will there be a resolution beyond the usual trope of boy meets girl/loses girl/gets girl again?

Zoe Kazan, who wrote the screenplay, does a sterling job as the likeable and wracked Ruby Sparks.  Paul Dano is quite unlikeable as the unlikeable Calvin, while Chris Messina ably plays Calvin's brother Harry (perhaps the linchpin character of the movie).   Steve Coogan and Elliott Gould make understated cameos, while Annette Bening and Antonio Banderas play two hippies (who may as well be straight from central casting).  A lot of the action takes place indoors; as a result, the photography tends to be dark, and the atmosphere claustrophobic.  The choices of music and songs for the soundtrack are very good.

Overall, this is a film that has capacity to provoke thought as well as feelings.  What we think and feel is not always pleasant, but sometimes it is challenging to go there.  In this case, perhaps we are not too challenged.  If you liked Being John Malkovich, you may like this film.  6/10