Both whimsical and light on its feet, but also imbued with a mature sense of how relationships are very much sometimes about the power (or concession) of control, Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris' "Ruby Sparks" is a wonderful concotion, and a highlight of the summer movie season.
Starring Paul Dano and Zoe Kazan, who wrote the script as well, the film tells the story of Calvin, a young writer struggling to pen the followup to his widely heralded debut novel. Prompted by his therapist, Calvin begins a writing exercise to help break his writer's block and soon he's pounding out pages upon pages, and at the center of them all is Ruby — and he's falling in love with her. But his world gets totally upside when one morning she appears in his kitchen — his ideal perfect woman. It may sound like a one-note conceit but where the story goes is more surprising and moving than you could ever predict.
In this clip from the film, without saying too much, this is the first "meeting" of sorts between Calvin and Ruby, and interesting coversation arises out of his decision to name his dog Scottie after F. Scott Fitzgerald. It's a nice taste of the smart dialogue contained within much of the movie and good look at the two leads who both play off each other very well.
"Ruby Sparks" opens on July 25th and next week we'll have interviews with both the directors and Kazan, so stay tuned.
