Directors: Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris
Stars: Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan, Chris Messina
Rated: R
How can a lonely writer meet the woman of his dreams? In Ruby Sparks, Calvin Weir-Fields (Dano) simply starts writing about her and she comes to life. It's an interesting concept, comparable to Stranger Than Fiction, in which Will Ferrell slowly starts to realize that he is a character in a book and not really controlling his fate. Calvin believes that he's hallucinating, while Ruby (Kazan) acts as though she's been there all along. There are some amusing moments in the film, but the characters really left me cold. I think the only reason that Calvin wears glasses is to emphasize his bugged-out eyes every time something strange happens, and I thought Dano underplayed a role that was ripe for more laughs. Kazan is kind of charming as Ruby, but a little more than midway through the film her character's just the subject of Calvin's whims. Chris Messina is ho-hum as Calvin's brother, and Annette Bening and Antonio Banderas are tiresome as Calvin's stoner mother and companion.
Rating: -0.5. The film squanders a novel concept.
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