Ruby Sparks (2012)
Directed by Jonathan Dayton
Calvin is a young novelist who achieved phenomenal success early in his career but is now struggling with his writing – as well as his romantic life. Finally, he makes a breakthrough and creates a character named Ruby who inspires him. When Calvin finds Ruby, in the flesh, sitting on his couch about a week later, he is completely flabbergasted that his words have turned into a living, breathing person.
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Kazan said in a Q&A after the screening that the idea came from the “Pygmalion” myth, although there are also echoes of the second half of Vertigo, in which Jimmy Stewart slowly turns into a controlling sociopath, as well as one scene very reminiscent of “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” a movie that came before the Rabin essay but included Kate Winslet’s “Too many guys think I’m a concept, or I complete them, or I’m gonna make them alive” speech.
The nature of creativity and desire, the alchemy of the imagination and the power of will, the relationship between creator and created - it's a theme that has raised many questions, from Pygmalion to Play It Again, Sam; from Weird Science to Frankenstein.
Obviously Kazan’s target here is male vanity and neurosis, and more specifically the “Pygmalion” paradox of molding a lover precisely to your specifications, only to discover that you don’t know what those are ahead of time.
Soon he learns the power of the pen, and this magical Pygmalion tale is off and running.
Initially, Calvin swears off his typewriter (a loud, forceful relic of the past) in order to enjoy Ruby in all her real glory, but soon enough, the temptation to make her more ideal takes over, and this Pygmalion update grows even funnier, as Ruby unwittingly takes his every adjustment to heart, before confronting the fundamental flaws that have driven Calvin to repeatedly fix his partners rather than himself.
Modern versions and variations include the sublime (“My Fair Lady,” based on a play by George Bernard Shaw called “Pygmalion”) and the sillly (“Mannequin,” “Weird Science,” and ”Mr.
Kazan said in a Q&A after the screening that the idea came from the “Pygmalion” myth, although there are also echoes of the second half of Vertigo, in which Jimmy Stewart slowly turns into a controlling sociopath, as well as one scene very reminiscent of “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” a movie that came before the Rabin essay but included Kate Winslet’s “Too many guys think I’m a concept, or I complete them, or I’m gonna make them alive” speech.
In the vein of such endearing but emotionally bruising works as Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind and [500] Days Of Summer, Ruby Sparks is this year’s indie classic.
It’s easy enough to compare this love story, with its mind-twisting interplay of reality and dreams, to Gondry’s “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.”
The answers give "Ruby Sparks" a melancholy tone, something like "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," or "(500) Days of Summer."
What the movie ignores on its way to a finale that's part "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and part "(500) Days of Summer" are Calvin's insecurities and possessiveness.
While it isn't nearly as good, " Ruby Sparks " does slightly resemble " Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind " at times.
As for debut screenwriter Kazan, as the offspring of two award-winning screenwriters (Robin Swicord, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and Nicholas Kazan, Reversal of Fortune), she, too, could be challenged by a kind of “second album syndrome” as she struggles to match her parents’ earlier contributions to film.
Her father, Nicholas Kazan, authored the script for Reversal of Fortune .
Her grandfather, the Broadway and Hollywood legend Elia Kazan, directed A Streetcar Named Desire and On the Waterfront; her parents are screenwriters Robin Swicord (Little Women, Memoirs of a Geisha, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) and Nicholas Kazan (Frances, Patty Hearst, Reversal of Fortune, Matilda).
The nature of creativity and desire, the alchemy of the imagination and the power of will, the relationship between creator and created - it's a theme that has raised many questions, from Pygmalion to Play It Again, Sam; from Weird Science to Frankenstein.
Rather than being Stranger Than Fiction with insightful gender politics, Ruby Sparks is more a hipster Weird Science (John Hughes, 1985).
Even presuming that Calvin’s on libido-suppressing antidepressants, Ruby’s a curiously asexual construct for a man in his late 20s — this redhead’s got less erotic heat than the fantasy woman concocted by a pair of teen nerds in “Weird Science’’ (1985).
Not for Kazan the male fantasies of " Weird Science ," in which two panting teenage boys create a swimsuit model, or even "Splash," with Tom Hanks teaching his pet mermaid everything she knows.
That blend of Weird Science poured through a Charlie Kaufman meta-filter is what nudges this one helpfully into SFX territory.
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Similar to the terrific 2006 comedy/drama Stranger Than Fiction (Marc Forster), Ruby Sparks explores the idea of freewill through the intriguing concept that a real human could be the creation of a novelist.
Broadly described, the script's loopy premise recalls everything from a classic "Twilight Zone" episode (1960's "A World of His Own") to 2006's "Stranger Than Fiction."
Before “Ruby Sparks” we most recently saw it in “Stranger than Fiction,” where Will Ferrell realized he was a fictional character and tried to thwart the author’s manipulation of him.
Like Will Ferrell's most underrated starring vehicle, Stranger than Fiction , Ruby Sparks explores the creative process.
However, similar to Will Ferrell’s Harold Crick from 2006’s Stranger Than Fiction, this film’s character leaps out of the novelist’s mind, off the page and into life as a fully-formed corporeal being.
The neurotic premise invites comparison to some prime Woody Allen features (The Purple Rose of Cairo, anyone?); the ending echoes Charlie Kaufman's stronger works without ever quite reaching his dizzying heights; and supporting players like Annette Bening, Antonio Banderas, Steve Coogan, and Alia Shawkat generally find themselves relegated to the sidelines.
In a way, there’s as much Frankenstein to the story as there is The Purple Rose of Cairo.
Dano’s face has a boyishness that hints at his character’s basic immaturity, but his eyes have a dark soulfulness that’s quick to register pain or anger -- he often brings to mind Harold and Maude era Bud Cort.
Her grandfather, filmmaker Elia Kazan, was both legendary ( On the Waterfront , A Streetcar Named Desire and East of Eden are all on his directorial resumé´) and controversial (he ratted on lefties in McCarthy-era Hollywood).
And yes, for those old enough to remember, she is the granddaughter of film and stage director Elia Kazan (“On the Waterfront,” “A Streetcar Named Desire,” “East of Eden,” etc.) and playwright Molly Kazan, as well as the daughter of screenwriters Nicholas Kazan and Robin Swicord.
Her grandfather, Elia Kazan, directed On the Waterfront .
Her grandfather, the Broadway and Hollywood legend Elia Kazan, directed A Streetcar Named Desire and On the Waterfront; her parents are screenwriters Robin Swicord (Little Women, Memoirs of a Geisha, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) and Nicholas Kazan (Frances, Patty Hearst, Reversal of Fortune, Matilda).
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Her grandfather, the Broadway and Hollywood legend Elia Kazan, directed A Streetcar Named Desire and On the Waterfront; her parents are screenwriters Robin Swicord (Little Women, Memoirs of a Geisha, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button) and Nicholas Kazan (Frances, Patty Hearst, Reversal of Fortune, Matilda).
But then the ideas themselves ride to the rescue and, with a quirky performance by Kazan as the title character—a slightly ditzy eccentric that harkens all the way back to the women in screwball comedies like “Bringing Up Baby”—you find yourself still somehow charmed.