Ruby Sparks

After having written a best-seller in his teens, the lonely Calvin Weir-Fields (Paul Dano, best known for his role in Little Miss Sunshine) finds himself struggling with severe writer’s block, until his therapist assigns him the task to write about someone who could love him completely. Calvin invents his dream girl Ruby, inspiring him momentously. Yet, the more he writes, the realer she becomes to him and the more he begins to falls in love with her. All this would be tragically romantic except that one day, Calvin wakes up to find a very real Ruby in his kitchen, and embarks on a relationship with his not-so fictional love. However he soon realises, that as he created her, he also has the power to alter and control her…

Husband and wife Director team, Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, of the well-loved and offbeat comedy Little Miss Sunshine, play to their strengths in this unconventional romcom, which some critics have called “weirdly plausible”. They partner again with leading man Paul Dano, who plays opposite his real life girlfriend and relative newcomer Zoe Kazan, who also wrote the script for the film. This creates some interesting tensions in the movie, adding to the plot's underlying dark twist. Indeed, with this film do not be fooled with first impressions: it may look like a fun and somewhat ridiculous chick flick, but it’s not afraid to pull a few punches too. Breaking away from the genre, it is surprisingly perceptive in asking questions about control in relationships - making it, perhaps somewhat unexpectedly, both modern and smart.

A film which is heart-warming and refreshingly quirky which nonetheless poses serious questions about learning to love another person for who they truly are, Ruby Sparks is not one to miss for all you true Romantics!

Georgia Ellison