Ruby Sparks

Ruby Sparks (2012) starring Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan, Chris Messina, Annette Bening, Antonio Banderas, Steve Coogan, Elliot Gould. A novelist named Calvin (Dano), starved for inspiration, starts writing about his dream girl, Ruby Sparks (Kazan). When she shows up in his apartment, he freaks out. He soon realizes, however, that she is real. She is his perfect mate -- until she starts pulling away from him. Then he can't resist the urge to rewrite her so she'll stay with him. And then things get really weird. This movie is a tour de force for Kazan, who wrote the script, produced, and stars. Although the film has its dark moments, it has a satisfying ending, and the more I think about it, the more I like it. The one "flaw" in the script that I noticed was that Calvin never took Ruby to meet his psychiatrist (Gould). I think that would have offered exquisite opportunities for plot development. (The disc offers subtitles for the hearing-impaired, as well as closed captions.) Grade: A-