Ruby Sparks (Dayton & Faris, 2012)

What's it about? Calvin (Paul Dano) is a neurotic, lonely young novelist struggling with writer's block. One night he has a dream about his perfect girl and begins to write about her, only to be rather shocked when she (Zoe Kazan) appears fully-formed in his kitchen one morning, entirely oblivious to the fact that she is a made-up character.


Is it any good? Although it stretches credibility with the central message that women are people too, this is an entertaining enough spin on the Pygmalion myth. It's nicely played by the leads, with Dano channeling Woody Allen in the socially awkward Calvin and Kazan staying just the right side of irritating in her Manic Pixie Dream Girl role, whilst the likes of Annette Bening, Antonio Banderas and Steve Coogan have likable supporting roles. I would have liked to see it develop its ideas further in ways that were funnier or cleverer, but in the end it ambles along amiably to a reasonably conventional rom-com ending. Which was nice enough. I imagine Kazan, who also wrote and produced, will turn her hand to bigger things in the future. Well, what do you know, now that I've just written that, Zoe Kazan has just turned up in my living room looking to turn her hand to something big. Gotta go.

Anything else I should know? Granddaughter of famous director Elia Kazan, Zoe Kazan is not short on confidence. Not only is she the writer/producer/star of this, she's also Paul Dano's girlfriend in real life. So think about that. She has made a film in which she is the embodiment of her boyfriend's fantasy girl. Now that's confidence. Or is that arrogance?

What does the Fonz think? Think Weird Science meets Stranger Than Fiction.
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