RUBY SPARKS
“Can we start over?” she asked. He stood there flummoxed, almost dumbfounded. His brown eyes staring into her grey. “Yes…Yes we can!” he said…..
How many movies have you seen that stay with you forever? The ones that actually gives you goosebumps everytime you watch them. Maybe there was a scene you loved and would rewatch it over and over. Ruby Sparks is one such movie. It isn’t much of a complex plot as to fiddle with our intellect, nor is it some dumb, snazzy, Gerard Butler rom-com in which the guy sleeps with a dozen women inspite of having the IQ of a 10 year old, and then finally settles down after finding ‘THE ONE’ and in the end they kiss and cuddle. They probably never show the end of it where they get divorced and the girl screws up his life in an alimony lawsuit.No, Ruby Sparks, is different. It wont try too hard by acting unintentionally funny or over-excessively schmaltzy.
The plot revolves around Calvin (Paul Dano), who is a detached-from-the-world-nerd kinda writer whose first book was a bestseller and is now suffering from writer’s block. Calvin writes about a girl, Ruby Sparks (Zoe Kazan) he dreams of every night and to his astonishment, the girl actually comes to life. She is just the kinda girl Calvin wants and she loves him despite his flaws. But she too is human,right? (Atleast for now) What happens when her desires take over? Ruby Sparks, ironically, shows us how accepting your partner as he/she is , is necessary for a relationship as it helps in rectifying our own self, our character and our mistakes. Directed by the Director duo Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, who gave us the beautiful ‘Little Miss Sunshine’, Ruby Sparks works because of its smart script and brilliant performances by the leads. Paul Dano is spot on with Calvin, from being a geeky, somewhat scared writer, to a control freak psychopath, he is a delight to watch. Zoe Kazan, who also is the writer of the film and real life live-in girlfriend of Paul Dano, is impeccable as Ruby. You couldn’t imagine anybody doing it any better. Inspite of being mostly unrecognized as an actress, she comes in with a script of her own, to actually show people that she has been severely underestimated. Ruby Sparks is both artistically beautiful and delightfully entertaining. Its a shame it hasn’t been recognized much. Maybe I’m just exaggerating a bit. Maybe you just have to watch it and find out.
The Storyteller 