Benning and Banderas in Ruby Sparks

Benning and Banderas in Ruby Sparks

A once bestselling author who is suffering from writer’s block finds inspiration once again writing about his ideal girl whom he named Ruby Sparks.  Paul Dano, whose remarkable performances in “Little Miss Sunshine” and “There Will Be Blood” stars in “Ruby Sparks,” a story that his real-life girlfriend Zoe Kazan wrote.  The movie is fittingly brought to life by married pair of directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris whose previous feature “Little Miss Sunshine” was nominated for four Academy Awards® including Best Picture. 

Paul Dano stars as Calvin who finds true love out his work of fiction.  Inspired to write about his ideal girl after a long hiatus, Ruby Sparks suddenly comes to life and in Calvin’s apartment, filling every gap of his once solitary existence.  But in Calvin’s case, fear is holding him back both in his professional and romantic pursuits.  “He’s definitely missing something in his life. There’s an absence. There’s sort of a hole,” notes Dano. 

Boy writes girl into life with "Ruby Sparks"

Not your conventional boy-meets-girl  romantic story,  “Ruby Sparks” leads us to Calvin Weir-Fields, (played by Paul Dano who also appeared in “Little Miss Sunshine,” “There Will Be Blood”) a literary wunderkind with an acclaimed first novel.  But since then, he’s been stricken with a stubborn case of writer’s block magnified by a dismal love life.  In a last-ditch attempt to reignite his creative spark, Calvin begins to envision a female protagonist in his mind.   

Then one morning she steps off the page and into his life.  Suddenly, Ruby (portrayed by Zoe Kazan who is also the film’s writer) is sleeping in Calvin’s bed, cooking in his kitchen, beguiling him in every way, with one mind-boggling twist:  he somehow has the power to change her every time he sits at his typewriter. As Calvin tries to juggle this power, he faces a major dilemma as a writer and a boyfriend: what will it take to make this relationship from his imagination work in the real world?