Faded literary prodigy Calvin (Paul Dano, looking like a drag version of James Spader) is struggling with writer’s block. His shrink (Elliott Gould) suggests he write about Ruby Sparks (Zoe Kazan), the free-spirited young woman of his dreams. Magically, Ruby herself appears in his house, believing she’s Calvin’s girlfriend. Egged on by his skeptical brother Harry (Chris Messina), Calvin realises that whenever he writes about Ruby on his jaunty manual typewriter, he can control her every thought, feeling and action.
Screenwriter Kazan has explicitly denied Ruby is a Manic Pixie Dream Girl, but this film is the best critique I’ve seen of an essentially misogynist trope. Where 500 Days of Summer suggested that yearning for a quirky woman says much more about the narcissistic dude involved, Ruby owes everything that makes her lovable – and her very existence – to the clever, creative man she’s meant to rescue from an existential funk.
Why should she rescue the petulant, childish, deeply unpleasant Calvin? When we meet his ex (Deborah-Ann Woll) late in the film, we see the real impact of his bullshit. The ending is deeply disquieting. Has Calvin learned anything, or are women still props in his romance with himself?
Ruby Sparks
when
In cinemas September 20
WIN
Thanks to Fox, we have 5 dbls to give away! To enter, email
brisbane.win@thethousands.com.au with the subject ‘falling in love is an act of magic’
