Ruby Sparks 2012

Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine: Ruby Sparks tries its damnedest to make a picture that seduces moviegoers into accepting it as their best imaginary friend forever. But the sweat shows more than the sparkle. Read more

James Rocchi, MSN Movies: ...a rare gem of a romantic comedy, sharp and smart with a warm glow. Read more

Stephen Holden, New York Times: Who hasn't entertained a fantasy of romantic omnipotence in which a dream partner complies with your every wish? Read more

David Edelstein, New York Magazine/Vulture: Ruby Sparks might have been more fun if Cal were written to be expansive instead of a worrywart in the middle-aged Matthew Broderick mode. Read more

Rex Reed, New York Observer: The movie is sweet, but it's a lollipop of whimsy. Lick it and it's gone. Read more

Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: "Ruby Sparks" is a closed system that gradually turns in on itself. There isn't enough of someone else. Read more

Moira MacDonald, Seattle Times: There are moments in this movie that are mind-bendingly funny, and that fill the viewer with the thrill of discovering great new talent. Read more

Tasha Robinson, AV Club: The setup is rote, almost insulting, but it's smarter than it looks: Once the pieces are in place, Kazan's script reveals a deeper game. Read more

Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: So much more satisfying than the cut-rate romantic comedy that it could have been. Read more

Christy Lemire, Associated Press: Maybe it'll give you something to think about as you Facebook stalk that cute girl you just met for coffee. Read more

Mark Feeney, Boston Globe: Kazan isn't beautiful. She's not even pretty, at least not in any conventional way. But she's enormously attractive, and the camera can't get enough of that heart-shaped face and those bouncing bangs. Read more

J. R. Jones, Chicago Reader: Kazan carries the film with a disarmingly sweet performance. Read more

Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: It's refreshing to see a premise such as this one treated to a nonsmarmy telling. But the picture, intelligent but mild, has more of a 10-volt hum than a true spark. Read more

Tom Long, Detroit News: "Ruby Sparks" is a film about the wonder of, and the limits of, magic. Believe and enjoy. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: Ruby Sparks flirts with preciousness and has less fun with its premise than it could have, but that's because it's actually a gently touching metaphorical drama about the real essence of love. Read more

Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: A beguiling romantic fantasy about the creative process and its potential to quite literally take on a life of its own, Ruby Sparks performs an imaginative high-wire act with finesse and charm. Read more

Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: An engagingly off-kilter love story of a writer, the girl of his dreams and the power of his pen. Read more

Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: Ruby Sparks opts for a seemingly darker but ultimately easier resolution, one that involves magic and fantasy and the sort of neat, happily-ever-after finales that only exist in movies. Read more

Rafer Guzman, Newsday: Sneaks up on you with deep questions, discomfiting insights and more emotional punch than you may expect. Read more

Stephen Whitty, Newark Star-Ledger: It's not the sunniest romantic comedy you'll see. But it is one of the smartest. And, perhaps, the likeliest to get you thinking about what romance and relationships are really all about. Read more

Ella Taylor, NPR: You'd have to be under 30 to see any of this as strikingly original insight, but it bears repeating in an eternal-child culture that favors reflexive cursing and knowing yuks over the honest longing to make a connection stick. Read more

Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News: Sometimes it's worth surrendering to cinematic enchantments, and Ruby Sparks makes a pretty good case for its own magic. Read more

Lou Lumenick, New York Post: A twee, mildly amusing rom-com from the directors of "Little Miss Sunshine.'' Read more

Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: What starts off as a sunny daydream, a shot of whimsy and mild-mannered magical realism, turns into something more serious, and seriously reflective. Satisfyingly so. Read more

James Berardinelli, ReelViews: Not only does the movie play with a lot of intriguing quasi-philosophical issues but it is uncompromising in its trajectory. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: I imagine most people seeing "Ruby Sparks" will consider it to be about a writer and his fictional creation. There may be another way to approach it. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: Don't look for sweet and embraceable. This movie is not afraid to show its claws. Like the spirited teamwork of Kazan and Dano, Ruby Sparks is honest, deep and true. Read more

Andrew O'Hehir, Salon.com: It's mediocre and half-baked, with flashes of a potential good movie showing through here and there. Read more

Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: A movie about the power of the imagination really becomes a movie about a certain element of surrender - about the release of power - that is practically a requirement for loving somebody. Read more

Dana Stevens, Slate: You find yourself wanting to go through Kazan's script with a red pen and indicate all the places where she could have let herself get darker, weirder, and braver. Read more

Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune: "Ruby Sparks" is a curveball delight, the work of serious-minded jokers. Read more

Calvin Wilson, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Sparklingly entertaining. Read more

Christopher Orr, The Atlantic: Envision (500) Days of Summer as retold by Charlie Kaufman and you won't be far off. Read more

Kate Taylor, Globe and Mail: The meta-fiction concept of characters interacting with their creator is hardly original, but it's neatly packaged here by Kazan herself, who wrote the script for this clever little charmer. Read more

Linda Barnard, Toronto Star: Sure it's been done before -- man brings ideal woman to life -- but not quite like Ruby Sparks. And that sets this film up to be a smart and romantic low-key comedy that goes beyond expectations. Read more

Alonso Duralde, TheWrap: Assaults the audience with such an unending charm offensive that what initially seems cute becomes cutesy, and what feels quirky descends into twee. Read more

Cath Clarke, Time Out: Kazan's script is observant about how we try to control relationships - making this a smart, modern movie. And how often can you say that about a romcom? Read more

David Fear, Time Out: You get to acknowledge how one-dimensional the male fantasies of hot nerd-messiah chicks are while basking in exactly the same thing. Read more

Claudia Puig, USA Today: A sophisticated and beguiling romantic fable. Read more

Justin Chang, Variety: If the result feels like a Pinocchio story that spends too much time with Geppetto, or a takedown of narcissism that never breaks free of what it's critiquing, Dano nonetheless makes Calvin compelling company. Read more

Nick Pinkerton, Village Voice: Begs interpretation as a frustrated actress's commentary on the way that even ostensibly serious writers write women-that is, for maximum convenience. Read more

Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: Kazan winds up indulging in the very wish-fulfillment she initially sets out to deconstruct. Read more