As far as twee, independent films are concerned, the stifling Ruby Sparks is at the top of the list. This film quickly becomes so incessantly overbearing, it got to the point I just wanted to run away. Directed by Little Miss Sunshine co-directors Valerie Faris and Jonathan Dayton this is an example of a film that is too cute for its own good despite the fact the underlying theme is well worth exploring.
The story centers on Calvin (Paul Dano), a young, “genius”-level writer, struggling with his latest book, and the imaginary dream girl (Zoe Kazan) he conjures to life with the words on his page. Yes, the titular star of this film began as the figment of Calvin’s imagination, but that isn’t this film’s issue as much as the nature of this character and the world this film inhabits that becomes so tiresome.
Spurred on by his psychiatrist (Elliott Gould), Calvin begins to write and write and write about Ruby until, one day, she is just… there. And wouldn’t you know, she’s “oh, so cute” and “oh, so perfect”. She’s the girl Calvin has always dreamed of and the fact she has appeared out of thin air isn’t lost on him.
At first he’s frightened. He thinks he’s lost his mind, but once others begin seeing her, including his skeptical brother (Chris Messina), he accepts Ruby as a reality, but also learns he can change her in any way he likes with the single key stroke on his typewriter. Yes, Calvin uses a typewriter and it’s ever so . The minute I saw that typewriter I knew what kind of film I was in for and I just can’t help it if films like this rub me the wrong way, but it doesn’t end there.
Zoe Kazan’s performance as Ruby Sparks could have been played by any number of actresses that have tapped into that manic pixie dream girl persona over the years. Another “Z” comes straight to mind in Zooey Deschanel who has cornered the market on the stock character trope. Of course, Ruby’s character traits go to the point of the film and the fact Calvin has fallen in love with an idea rather than a person. For that matter, the themes in Ruby Sparks I fully endorse, but I just can’t get beyond the sugar-coated presentation.
It continues when we meet Calvin’s mother Gertrude, played by Annette Bening. One time in her life, Gertrude was a country club girl, married to Calvin’s successful father, but now she’s grown into a more New Age, earthy world, living in a sprawling estate that embodies a life that’s one with nature and filled with sexual liberation with her boyfriend Mort (Antonio Banderas). Both are unbearable and it makes sense to me why Calvin wouldn’t want to visit them often and why his frustration grows when Ruby fits right in with them both.
The script was written by Kazan and marks her screenwriting debut and I can appreciate most of the thematic decisions she makes and her reasons for telling the story as it digs deep into concerns over a controlling relationship, but the cloying and unbearable nature of the the screenplay and its characters were like nails on a chalkboard.
There is something to be said for how she doesn’t attempt to explain Ruby’s existence. It isn’t important that she appeared out of thin air, all that matters is she is there and is an embodiment of Calvin’s ideal woman and what he learns over the course of his relationship with her. But did it have to be told in a way that none of it ever feels real? It also doesn’t help that late in the film I lost all respect for Calvin in a climactic scene that told me he really doesn’t respect Ruby in any way, and doubt he could have compassion for any human for that matter.
At 104 minutes I would have liked this film much more had it been told over the course of five minutes and been presented as an extended music video for The Cranberries’ “Dreams“. As much as the themes and personal journey Calvin goes through are made up of authentic human emotions and questions we all face, the world he inhabits is so claustrophobic and suffocating I had a hard time enduring the running time.
