Cleverly written and wonderfully acted, Ruby Sparks overcomes its occasional lags in pace with an abundance of charm and wit. Read critic reviews
Ruby Sparks
2012, Romance/Fantasy, 1h 44m
184 Reviews 25,000+ RatingsWhat to know
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Movie Info
Young author Calvin Weir-Fields (Paul Dano), once a literary darling, is having trouble composing his next novel. Following a therapist's advice, Calvin pulls out an old manual typewriter and creates a vivacious, flame-haired woman he dubs Ruby Sparks (Zoe Kazan). Overnight, Ruby leaps from the page into Calvin's home as a real flesh-and-blood woman. And, what's more, she's unaware that she's actually a fictional character and that her actions and feelings are dictated by whatever Calvin writes.
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Rating: R (Some Drug Use|Language|Some Sexual References)
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Genre: Romance, Fantasy
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Original Language: English
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Director: Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris
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Producer: Albert Berger, Ron Yerxa
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Writer: Zoe Kazan
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Release Date (Theaters): limited
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Release Date (Streaming):
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Box Office (Gross USA): $2.5M
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Runtime:
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Distributor: Fox Searchlight
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Sound Mix: Datasat, SDDS, Dolby Digital
Cast & Crew
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Critic Reviews for Ruby Sparks
Audience Reviews for Ruby Sparks
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There may not be a modern day couple that I adore more than Paul Dano and Zoe Kazan. Weird to say, especially since I never find myself scouring the trades for their relationship updates or paparazzi photos. It's more so an adoration for their work on screen. Everything from Dano's turns in There Will Be Blood and Prisoners, to Zoe's work in The Big Sick and Our Brand is Crisis. And of course, their work together in Ruby Sparks, Meek's Cutoff (which I have admittedly yet to see), and upcoming film Wildlife. I'm not sure there's a more critically acclaimed working couple on screen. Ruby Sparks is one of those weird films that I've had to sit on for about a week. Dano plays a successful novelist who is going through a bout of writer's block when he finds a character he created has crept her way into his real life, the catch being that everything he writes about her personality and character decisions is exactly the way she acts in real life. Is she real or is this a girl from his dreams that he's hallucinating? Well, that gets answered relatively fast and the result brings heart wrenching drama and a fascinating tale of obsession, controlling behavior, and to tread carefully on how you put someone up to a pedestal. Romantic-comedy-dramas that take chances are always going to be on my good side. I immediately think of 500 Days of Summer, When Harry Met Sally, The Spectacular Now, The Big Sick, Paper Towns, La La Land, Man Up, and The Before Trilogy. All in different ways present a non-cliched representation of a romance. Ruby Sparks may not ultimately be as good as any of those films, but it took chances and provided thought provoking commentary for an otherwise paint by numbers genre. Besides all of the interesting plot and character choices, there's some really powerful performances here. Annette Bening, Antonio Banderas, Steve Coogan, Chris Messina, and Deborah Ann Woll all do great work in bit roles. Kazan and Dano, however, are in an entirely different league. You can clearly see the chemistry the two have off screen plays well into their on screen turns as well. And one thing I noticed about Kazan's work, particularly for this character, is how much she channeled her inner Audrey Hepburn. I was about to write this in my notes and then boom, we see both of their characters watching Sabrina, a classic Hepburn film. A sort of creepy but fascinatingly unique romantic story is what makes Ruby Sparks work so well. I more than recommend this to those interested in original filmmaking. 8.6/10
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Whether you enjoy Ruby Sparks or no will mostly come down to a matter of taste. As far as the acting and filmmaking go, Ruby Sparks is fine, not outstanding but still what you would expect out of a good indie film. The plot is decent enough as well. The deciding factor will be whether you enjoy art that makes you uncomfortable within a romantic comedy. For myself, I was looking for something lighter and found the vulgarity and dark side to be unexpected and out-of-place. Nonetheless, Ruby Sparks was interesting and I still recommend it.
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Starts out charmingly as a frothy, wish fulfillment romantic fantasy. Had it stayed with that concept it would have been a cute comedy unfortunately about 3/4 of the way through the male lead starts acting like an incredible jackass and the film turns dark never finding its footing again. A disappointing miss.
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Zoe Kazan's intelligent and perceptive script is the anchor to this interesting high conceit film, that's a bit like a more disturbing Stranger Than Fiction.
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