Review of Ruby Sparks (2012) by Art W — 27 Oct 2012

Even though there is a large amount of awful so-called romance out in the film ether that I often go out of my way to mock (Films most people fall over themselves to egxadurate how touching and heartbreaking they are..ick..eesh..gag!) And as horror/ fantasy/sci-fi geeked up as I tend to come across, I am a big wet old softie when it comes to well-made and bloody good stories of love. Real convincing love.

So you show me a trailer for a film about creating (via writing) a perfect wish upon a star lady that involves the quote "ITS LOVE, ITS MAGIC" well Im sold instantly.

Really good romance is very rare as much as good horror even and Ruby Sparks is a brilliant example of real romance in my mind. It even borderlines on the dark in some parts. Often enough that's what most romance or "rom-coms" tend to miss out, showing in great detail how dark each individual's true intentions for the other may be. Love can be bloody creepy when it gets serious and if you watch this without considering the many scary horror style iterations the story could take, well you are probably that kind of person who cant except a not so happy ending.

And no that is not a spoiler this film is full of the "happy" but it manages it in the beautiful way, in a more natural way the happy love stuff is not forced its for you to judge and find.

This film shows to me how great every error in a relationship can be in shaping ourselves. Being someone who has only experienced love or relationships via observation of people I can't give life love facts but I can offer my personal thoughts and imaginary hopes. A constant flaw I think everyone falls guilty of is trying to make someone be what you want and what you think is your idea of perfect. Ruby Sparks tackles this flaw and in the process helps you consider how controlling a person in that way or trying to unintentionally have an ownership (and in this films case a god like status) over that person is the opposite of the comfortable loving feeling we search for with people.

It may seem like a film milkshake of sorts as I found it reminding me of "Stranger than fiction" "Eternal Sunshine Of the Spotless mind" and of course "Weird Science".

But this film has its own poetic magic in showing how a person deals with the idea of getting that special wish upon a star kind of someone and being unable to let go if its necessary.