Ruby Sparks - Review

Calvin is a young novelist struggling with writer's block until he has a dream about a mysterious woman. He decides to put her on paper and is surprised to find that the woman he wrote about has come to life in Ruby Sparks.

I didn't know much about Ruby Sparks prior to going in, but I had heard from some friends that it was good. Not to mention it has Paul Dano in it and I really like him. Ruby Sparks not only was very good but it was a very neat story.
The above summary is pretty much the movie. Dano plays a young writer who had early success and has fallen into a depressive writer's block until he has a dream about a mysterious woman. He begins to write a story about his relationship with the woman. She suddenly comes to life and only knows what Calvin has written in his story.

I thought the acting was great, especially Dano. His chemistry with Zoe Kazan was really a joy. They were a believable couple. Dano played the struggling writer very well. You feel sorry for him and really want him to succeed. You also feel for him when Ruby comes to life and he is trying to convince himself that she is a figment of his imagination. I also really liked the supporting characters played by Chris Messina, Elliott Gould, Annette Bening, and Antonio Banderas. They were both quirky and funny. 

I think the best part is when Calvin begins to try and change Ruby to his liking. At first she got unhappy so he changed his story to say she couldn't live without him. Then she got too clingy so he changed it again to say she was joyful all the time. Then he got annoyed with that so he changed her again. He just kept changing until he broke down and realized Ruby couldn't be perfected. You either love the girl or you let her go free and wait for the right one to come back and love you for who you are. It was great.


I strongly recommend Ruby Sparks. It is one of the best movies I have watched in a while.

Looper - Review

Looper fast forwards us to the year 2074 where the mob uses time travel to transport people 30 years into the past where they are killed by specialized hit men called Loopers. A Looper named Joe gets more than he bargained for when his scheduled loop is the future version of himself.


I know I'm a little late to the party when it comes to Looper because I just now watched it, but I do have to say that I really enjoyed it. I thought the story was interesting and fresh and the acting was also really good. I also thought they did a pretty good job with making Joseph Gordon-Levitt look like a believable young Bruce Willis. It wasn't spot on, obviously, but it was pretty damn good.
I thought the writing was great and the dialogue was awesome. It was serious enough to keep you interested and curious, but there was also a decent mix of humor in there to keep you from getting too into it and feeling like your brain is turning into scrambled eggs.

I did like the idea of time travel being invented and then immediately outlawed. It's almost like there is a glimpse of hope that our future people would realize when too much power is too much. However, I was a little disappointed with how it wasn't really gone in depth. They didn't describe when it was invented or what exactly caused it to become illegal. A minor gripe but it is there.
I also was a bit confused with what exactly the drug was Joseph Gordon-Levitt (aka, Joe) was using. It was referred to as "dropping" but again, they never explained exactly what it was. Was it a form of cocaine or heroin or was it a brand new drug that was created between now and the year 2044?
One thing I did like is the fact that they didn't make the future too much of... the future. Like, there wasn't a lot of futuristic feeling in the sense of you felt like you were in an episode of The Jetsons, but at the same time it gives you enough to believe you are in the year 2044. There were hover bikes and futuristic cell phones and stuff.

I don't want to ruin anything even though I am pretty sure most people have seen Looper already, but I am going to stop before I get too into the movie. If I do this review will be super long and I don't want that. I will say I did like Looper. It was very well played out and I also will say Joseph Gordon-Levitt did a great job. I was also surprised with Emily Blunt.
I recommend it if you haven't seen it yet.