Ruby Sparks

“She would never say where she came from” – Ruby Tuesday by The Rolling Stones (1966)
Ruby Sparks – (USA, 2012, 104 minutes, English with Hebrew subtitles)

Imagine your favorite fantasy come to life. Calvin (Paul Dano) is a young man whose first novel, written when he was 19, was wildly successful. Now he lives in minimalist splendor typing out his next book on a bursting with retro charm manual typewriter in a 2nd floor study overlooking a sparkling blue pool. OK, yes, Calvin is living my fantasy, or at least one of them.  Making his life even cooler in this writer’s fantasy, Elliott Gould plays the compassionate therapist who helps Calvin with his writer’s block – because no writer, even in her wildest dreams, could imagine not having writer’s block.

But let’s leave my fantasies, to pursue Calvin’s, which I must admit, are far more intriguing. In Ruby Sparks, a romantic comedy directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (Little Miss Sunshine) and written by Zoe Kazan, suffering writer Calvin’s imaginary creation – none other than Ruby herself, played by Zoe Kazan – comes to life in a very contemporary Pygmalion story. Every tantalizing twist of the “what-if” is explored with comic brilliance, insight into the contrary workings of human emotions and a healthy dose of testosterone.

Zoe Kazan jumps off the screen as Ruby, making this film the ultimate writer’s fantasy: a writer (Zoe Kazan) writing about a writer who creates an imaginary perfect woman – Ruby Sparks – played by the “real” writer Zoe Kazan; or, if one prefers – a woman writing/imagining a man writing/imagining a woman. Never have relationships and their inevitable mishaps been so much fun! Antonio Banderas and Annette Benning add to the crazy sparkle, with Benning as the aptly named Gertrude (if you don’t get the reference, you can’t be part of my fantasy), Calvin’s mother, and Banderas as her new man. Dano is sweet to watch as he stumbles through it all, and Chris Messina is hot as brother Harry, Calvin’s confidante and enabler in this strange situation. Yes, Calvin learns something about life, love, women and relationships, but he does so in an ever so ineptly appealing way!

Ruby Sparks is such a wonderful movie you will want to see it again and again – and you can! The film will be jointly presented by ICON TLV and the Haifa International Film Festival. The two festivals are also jointly presenting the film Robot & Frank, which will be the opening film at ICON TLV.

Screenings:
ICON TLV, Tel Aviv Cinematheque
October 2 at 22:15 in Hall 4; October 7 at 21:00 in Hall 3. Tickets:  03-6060800, or online (Hebrew only)

Haifa International Film Festival
October 1 at 22:30 (Auditorium), October 4 at 14:00 (Auditorium), October 8 at 16:30 (Tikotin Museum). Tickets: www.haifaff.co.il