Ruby Sparks (2012)

"Ruby Sparks" sparks for so many reasons.  First of all, Paul Dano from "Little Miss Sunshine" among other things. Two, the directors are the directors from "Little Miss Sunshine," Jonathan Deyton and Valerie Feris.  Three, Zoe Kazan is not just Ruby--she wrote it.

This could be a bad movie because it's about a writer who makes up a girlfriend and she miraculously shows up in his apartment.  I would think it would be hard to get an audience to believe that.

But they pull it off.  Whether it's funny lines, Ruby's purple tights and red dress, Paul Dano going on and on about how hard it is to be a writer---of course I'm going to lap those lines right up.

Paul Dano's character Calvin starts off lying down on the therapist's couch talking to Elliot Gould and I'm at home feeling like I'm in a Woody Allen movie happy as pie.  Later he's on the same couch clutching some kind of teddy bear---love that!

Zoe Kazan, Paul Dano, and Chris Messina

Then there's the scene in a car on the road to his parents' house and some powerful French pop is playing making you want to dance.  This turns out to be "Ca Plane Pour Moi" by Plastic Bertrand which I continue to make crazy hair dance to.

Chris Messina plays Calvin's brother, Harry, and the character is such a protective, nice brother.

Calvin's parents, Annette Bening and Antonio Banderas, are goofy as hippies living in Big Sur.

The theme, "you can't control the other person in your relationship for it to be successful" is an important lesson and I think the movie explores this idea from many angles.

The end of the movie is the beginning--you'll know what I mean after you watch the film.

Tagline: She's out of his mind. 

Clever.