9/08/2016

Ruby Sparks (2012) - Dayton & Farris' high concept romcom failure

 

An effective, well-made poster for Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Farris' Ruby Sparks

 

A successful, lonely writer with writer's block completes an assignment for his shrink and in doing so creates the fictional female character of his  dreams in reality!


Ruby Sparks has its moderately funny patches, but this basically high-concept romcom has perched itself wrong; on the low-budget-quirky-indie chair, - replete with discordant, foreign language music and an eccentric parent couple, - instead of a higher chair, the mainstream approach. It is also problematic that the protagonist's writing issues take up as much space in the film as they do. It is fundamentally hard to get genuinely interested in this character, the central rock of Ruby Sparks, and the affluent Los Angeles milieu he resides in. To make matters worse, the film isn't romantic, because the titular character isn't a real person in the film but only a figment of the writer's imagination.

Paul Dano (L.I.E. (2001)) attempts to pull up the funny factor but spends the majority of the film looking like an owl. Zoe Kazan (Meek's Cutoff (2010)), who also wrote the film, her first and only movie writing job to date, is sweet enough as Ruby Sparks, but the film is regrettably failed. It is directed by great Californian directors and marrieds Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Farris (Little Miss Sunshine (2006)).




Watch a trailer for the film here


Cost: Estimated 8 mil. $

Box office: 9.1 mil. $

= Big flop

[Ruby Sparks was released July 25 and runs 104 minutes. Filming took place in LA and Big Sur, California from July - August 2011. The film opened #28 to a 140k $ opening weekend in 13 theaters, expanding to 261 and #17, grossing 2.5 mil. $ (27.5 % of the total gross) in North America. Its 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Australia with 1.6 mil. $ (17.6 %) and the UK with 1.2 mil. $ (13.2 %). Ruby Sparks is certified fresh at 79 % with a 7.1 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]


What do you think of Ruby Sparks?

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