Ruby Sparks, a fun witty romance comedy

With big action movies crashing and burning the theaters one after another, there wasn’t much hope this summer for those who love watching films with originality. But one indie flick managed to rise from the ashes: Ruby Sparks.

Ruby Sparks is a fun, witty romantic comedy starring newcomers Paul Dano and Zoe Kazan. The plot centers around Calvin, a literary prodigy, who has been suffering from writer’s block since he wrote a successful novel several years ago. One night, however, he has a dream about an amazing, whimsical girl named Ruby Sparks. Inspired by his dream, Calvin begins to write, creating a fantasy world with Ruby and him. Throughout the whole writing process, Calvin begins to fall in love with this dream girl. Then one day, just as Calvin was writing about Ruby, she appears. Shocked, Calvin enlists his brother Harry to help him navigate this new world with Ruby Sparks.

The movie follows the twists and turns of Calvin and Ruby’s relationship. At first the two are inseparable and in love, not much unlike to how Calvin wrote the fantasy. But soon things begin to change.

Calvin realizes that whatever he types, Ruby does. In the beginning, he was adamant about not changing her, but as the fantasy relationship turns into a real one, Calvin scrambles to try to change their fate. For example, Ruby starts to become more independent and strays away from Calvin. Afraid of losing Ruby, Calvin tries writing about how much Ruby misses him, and things horribly backfire.

Ruby Sparks shows dead-on the realities and magic of love and relationships. The screenplay, written by Kazan, is witty and refreshingly original, and the exchanges between Calvin and Harry are consistently smart and hilarious. This movie is definitely for those with a love for quirky indie films. Ruby Sparks is by far one of the best movies of the summer. My only regret about Ruby Sparks was that I didn’t see it sooner.