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    Ruby Sparks

    Reviewed by
    adamwatchesmovies@

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    "Ruby Sparks" begins with an interesting premise and takes it in all kinds of direction to create a story that's profound. Different people will see this film in vastly different ways.

    The idea is as follows: Paul Dano plays Calvin, an author who scored a major hit when he was younger but hasn't really produced anything significant since. Frustrated, depressed and without any real friends to speak of, he's given an assignment by his psychiatrist to write a story about someone who meets him while he is walking his dog. The story is about a girl named Ruby Sparks. Her character completely consumes the man, until one day Ruby (Zoe Kazan) materializes out of thin air as a real woman.

    With this premise, you could go in a lot of different directions and as the movie plays out (without giving too much away) it explores a lot of them. At times the relationship that Calvin and Ruby have is pure bliss. She was written as his girlfriend, so she manifests already madly in love with him. At other times Calvin feels like a bully, manipulating and forcing Ruby to be the woman he wants her to be by expanding on the manuscript that describes her character. Sometimes, Ruby feels like a more 3-dimensional person than her creator and sometimes the fact that she's artificial really shows. It isn't that the movie is inconsistent, it's that Ruby really feels like a woman who was conceived in a week and placed in a world where people grow and change every single day. At times, “Ruby Sparks” plays like a sweet romantic comedy, a dream come true for the main characters. In a different scene, the picture becomes genuinely frightening as some of the implications of a real-life Pygmalion are explored.

    The performances are terrific and the characters are memorable. Antonio Banderas plays a small but entertaining role as a fun-loving stepfather to Calvin. Notice the contrast between the two characters and the chain of events that’s set by them meeting. Calvin's brother Harry (Chris Messina) plays a large part in the story and inserts some humor whenever he's on screen. He ensures some much-needed levity to balance out the moments of darkness and is quite good at it. Paul Dano is dead-on in his role but the real gem is Zoe Kazan. The main reason she cast herself in the role (being the writer of the story) might be simply because she had this vision of herself when she was writing the character, but it really works. She looks the part as a woman that's attractive, but not too attractive to be unrealistic and she's the kind of plain but spunky girl that nerdy, loser types dream of.

    It's that right mix of heart-warming, creepy, scary, funny and uplifting too. If the premise interests you then stop reading and don’t look for any more information about the film, there are some surprises throughout you don’t want spoiled for yourself. I recommend seeing “Ruby Sparks” with friends of both genders and setting aside some time to discuss it afterward. This one’s a thinker, a picture that’s sure to bring up all sorts of different ideas from different people. (On Blu-ray, June 2013)

    8
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    adamwatchesmovies@  1.8.2016 age: 26-35 2,867 reviews

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