LEAD CAST: Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan, Cris Messina, Antonio Banderas,
Annette Bening, Elliotte Gould DIRECTOR:
Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris SCREENWRITER: Zoe
Kazan PRODUCER: Albert
Berger, Bart Lipton, Ron Yerxa EDITOR: Pamela
Martin MUSICAL
DIRECTOR: Nick Urata GENRE: Romantic
Comedy-Drama
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Matthew Libatique RUNNING TIME: 104 minutes
DISTRIBUTOR: Fox Searchlight Pictures LOCATION: USA
Technical: 3.5
Moral: 2.5
CINEMA rating: For
viewers 14 years old and above
Literary prodigy Calvin
Weir-Fields (Paul Dano) achieves early acclaim but is still smarting from a
break up from a long-term relationship, which could be one reason he is
experiencing writer’s block. One day at
the park with his dog, Calvin “meets” and “befriends” red-head Ruby Sparks (Zoe
Kazan), something he immediately reports to his psychiatrist, Dr. Rosenthal
(Eliott Gould). On the doctor’s
suggestion, he makes the envisioned redhead an ideal woman, a female character
for another novel, and as a kind of therapy for Calvin. The neurotic writer seems happy in that world
he shares with his imagined lover, a “painter from Dayton, Ohio”, until his
older brother Harry (Chris Messina) stumbles upon scanty female lingerie in
Calvin’s bachelor’s pad. Worse, Calvin
wakes up one morning and finds the character in his book, Ruby, making
breakfast in his kitchen. He thinks he
is hallucinating, but other people can see Ruby, too. So where is the line
between imagination and reality?
Actress-writer Zoe Kazan
(granddaughter of director Elia Kazan)
brings to cinema a romance with a new formula.
But it’s nothing new really in classical mythology; remember the
sculptor Pygmalion who fell in love with the statue he created and which came
to life? Kazan must have been inspired
by such imaginings. Part of the
effectiveness of Ruby Sparks lies in
the good acting, though it may have been more heartfelt for the lead couple since
they are real life sweethearts. The
bigger stars in the cast—Bening, Banderas, Gould—did a great job of bringing
life to their roles without upstaging the relative newbies. The plot is good, and the pacing just
right. Earlier on the movie is
lighthearted, apparently leading to the familiar romantic comedy situation but
soon enough descends into darker realms as Calvin realizes the different—and dangerous—kind
of power that his writing possesses. There
is that tense moment—running to a few minutes—prior to the resolution of the
story that is really gripping in so far as it awakens the viewer to the delicate
aspect of power and control between lovers.
Ruby Sparks presents an
interesting study for students of philosophy, theology or ethics. Some questions young people would do good to
explore are: If you were in Calvin’s place,
how would you regard Ruby? Is she your
creation or God’s? Would you reveal to
her your magical power to (secretly) control her emotions and moods as you
please? Would you say then that you
truly love her when you treat her like a puppet? What kind of satisfaction or fulfillment is
there in having a lover like Ruby? While
CINEMA allows 14-year-olds to see this movie, it reminds viewers that it
reflects the values of a more permissive culture. Filipinos still caution their children to
avoid premarital or extramarital sex, both of which are presented as “normal” and
even attractive in this movie.
