Ruby Sparks

So, I had been wanting to see this movie from the super cute trailers that had been playing everywhere I looked, it seemed. The movie was written by Zoe Kazan, who also plays the female lead, and starred her real-life boyfriend, the amazing Paul Dano. The movie was released in 261 theaters back in July and made about $6.5 million.

The movie is about a writer, played by Dano, who is having trouble writing his second novel after writing the 'next great American novel' ten years before. He starts to write about a girl he meets in his dreams and the girl then shows up at his house. He realizes that he wrote this girl and can control her actions.

The plot doesn't really center on the fantasy aspect of creating a person from thin air, but rather the relationship in the story. Even though he created his girlfriend, they still had problems normal couples encounter. It also brought up questions about what's really real, etc. The plot was very entertaining and actually pretty realistic. As mentioned by most fans, it was refreshing and original.

The movie was paced very well and flowed smoothly throughout the entire thing. Also, being a legit indie film, it had a rocking soundtrack.

Paul Dano and Zoe Kazan were ridiculously cute. It was surprising when I read after the movie that they are a real-life couple. It was also nice to see Dano play something other than a super creepy character. Annette Bening and Antonio Banderas, who play Dano's parents, were super funny and charming. Oh, and my inner True Blood fan loved seeing the little cameo from Jessica, or Deborah Ann Woll.

This movie reminded me a lot of Stranger Than Fiction (one of my all-time favorites), not only in plot similarities, but general theme and pacing. It was a cute romantic comedy that had more substance than the run-of-the-mill studio romcom. "I couldn't see you when you were here, and now that you're gone, I see you everywhere".