Let us start by saying I watch a lot of movies. I am self employed working out of my place of residence. This allows me the opportunity to take in movies via my wonderfully expensive cable television package.
Most of the stuff I watch turns out to be junk. I usually only watch an hour or so before moving on to something else. Very few movies truly grab my attention. Usually I find only a couple a year that get to my core. Over the last year I have only found three. Lea Miserables, Moonrise Kingdom and Ruby Sparks.
Crazy since I am the farthest thing from a lover of Broadway or a musical, but Les Miserables just blew me away. The story and the wonderful characters of Moonrise Kingdom keep me watching it over and over again.
Finally there is Ruby Sparks. The least known of the three, I just "got" Ruby Sparks. It came from a place I could understand. Written by Zoe Kazan and starring Paul Dano and Zoe Kazan, the casting is absolutely perfect. Zoe Kazan is incredibly talented as is Dano.
Paul Dano is a troubled, secluded writer who creates Ruby Sparks via his typewriter amidst sessions with his psychiatrist. She is his perfect girl and life long love.
He writes her as he sees fit. Only later he comes to understand that love and relationships do not work as such.
There are two sides to everything and Ruby needs her own identity. When he writes that to her, he quickly sees all is not perfection and he must give as well. Finally he sets her free and mourns the loss of Ruby.
On the golf course with his brother trying to move on there is a great conversation between the two. After a bad golf shot by Dano...
"When was the last time you wrote?" his brother asked.
"I can't write."
"Sure you can. That's what you have over every other poor schmuck out there with a broken heart."
"And who would want to read about that?" Dano responded.
"Lots of people. Why not, you have a pretty great story."
"People would think I am crazy."
To which his brother replies "Naw.....they'll think it's fiction."
And thus Dano writes his book about Ruby Sparks.
I won't give the ending but the final ten minutes are spectacular to me.
"This is the true and impossible story of my one very great love." Dano opens the monologue with. He goes on to weave the best poetry of the year in my opinion.
"To tell her I am sorry for every word I wrote to change you.....I couldn't see you when you were here and now that you're gone I see you everywhere."
"A human being has been created out of ink, paper and the imagination."
"In the luckiest, happiest state the words are not coming from you but through you. She came to me wholly herself. I was just lucky enough to be there to catch her."
Ruby Sparks
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