Ruby Sparks

I don't think at this point it is that hard to believe that Little Miss Sunshine came out six years ago.  That was the last time we heard from the married directing duo of Valerie Farris and Jonathan Dayton.  They once again try to capture lightning in a bottle with a darling little indie to entertain the  masses.  I doubt this will have the commercial success of their first film but it will be a good movie for couples to go see.  Ruby Sparks is the second feature film for Farris and Dayton and despite a glaring lack of explanation it is a cute movie to go see.

Written by the movies female lead, Zoe Kazan, Ruby Sparks is the story of a young writer, Calvin, who peaked as a teenager writing a modern American classic.  But now 10 years later has yet to put anything else out.  Calvin is played by Paul Dano who previously worked with Farris and Dayton on Little Miss Sunshine.  It seems appropriate that the directing team featured a story on a person with writer's block, since it has been six years since they have done anything.  So once again they have teamed up with FOX Searchlight hoping for similar success to their first movie.

But where Little Miss Sunshine focused on an eccentric family of loveable losers, this movie mostly focuses on one young couple in love.  While that is not a bad thing, there was just more to grab onto in their first movie. If you didn't particularly enjoy one story line you wouldn't have to wait long for another and the family motif really helped tie it all together. It also featured a lot of big names to draw the viewer in.  Including the extremely lucky casting of Steve Carrel who while filming was still not widely known because "The Office" had not aired yet.

I had a chance to talk to the stars and directors of the Ruby Sparks.  Click here to listen to what they had to say about getting this project started, how they have dealt with the success of Little Miss Sunshine and where they go next.

In this movie Calvin's dream girl is actually from his own mind as she is the female lead in his newest novel and has now magically come to life.  There is no explanation why and any attempt to do so, is quickly side stepped.  Even Ted manufactured a way for a teddy bear to come to life, the best explanation we got was possibly a magic typewriter, but you can never quite be sure.  Anyway Calvin believes he has created the perfect woman and for his hipster little self they seem to blend perfectly together.  But having only ever been in one real relationship he doesn't quite understand that any relationship needs work, even one with the perfect girl.  The theme here is fantastic and I think some of the highlights of the movie may be when Calvin uses his magic typewriter to change the girl to fit his needs.  While they used the themes to bring out some of the funnier moments in the movie, the main use of the alterations was an ethical look at the amount of control one person may have over another.  Kazan is at her best jumping from extreme to extreme and Dano also rises to the occasion when dealing with the alterations to his creation.

Kazan and Dano both did fine jobs with the lighter moments of the movie, but Dano's performance stayed consistently solid as the movie progressed well past the climax of the movie.  There was a host of fantastic supporting actors surrounding the two young stars which helped the story progress with an especially wonderful performances from Antonio Banderas as the eccentric boyfriend to Calvin's mom who was also played wonderfully by Annette Bening.  Steve Coogan also did amazing work in several scenes as the sleezy book executive looking to capitalize on Calvin's success.

Do we ever find out how a fictional character that appeared out of no where has her own place in Los Angeles?  No.  But I imagine Kazan is hoping that you will fall in love with the story so much that you will be able to look past these plot holes.  There is a wonderful story in here about what it takes to be in a relationship once the honeymoon bliss wears off and Ruby Sparks should be the perfect alternative to the major blockbusters that are out there now.  B-

Haywire

Steven Sogerbergh has been talking about retiring from the film industry for some time now, that being said this is his 25th film in a little over 20 years. He has never done a movie involving so much fighting as he is usually known for his dark shots and dialogue heavy stories. He is still able to put his own spin on the genre and makes Haywire an enjoyable movie even if it leaves no long lasting impression.

Newcomer Gina Carano stars as a black ops agent seeking revenge after being set-up on her latest mission. She was plucked from television after Steven Soderbergh saw her beating up a woman in a cage. At one point she was ranked number three in her weight class and was referred to as the face of women's MMA. It didn't hurt that she was also listed as number 16 on Maxim's Hot 100 List. Taking all that into account while she is a very talented and blessed woman, acting is not one of her strong suites. Soderbergh seems to understand that and builds up the movie around this fact. She is asked to deliver very little dialogue and instead just be herself whether it calls for total bad ass or drop dead gorgeous. He also puts a litany of huge and talented male counterparts at her disposal to carry any scene and also get lined up for an ass whooping.

It is clear that Steven Soderbergh is one of those directors that can get any actor he wants. With almost no money in his budget he is able to go out there and gather amazing talent to surround his leading lady. He is clearly able to get his actors to do anything he wants as well, he gets Antonio Banderas to put on a horrific beard, Ewan McGregor to sport a dorky looking hair cut, and puts Bill Paxton in a mustache which is always a ridiculous look, with some notable exceptions. The limited dialogue which is important to getting the story across is delivered by men who have more training than Carano. She instead is put in her comfort zone and handles the hand to hand combat throughout the movie with nameless punks along with Channing Tatum and Michael Fassbender. Despite his much larger size her encounter with Tatum still looks believable and her sequence with Fassbender in a hotel room is the coolest in the movie. The opening sequence may be jarring for those who are not comfortable watching a woman get her ass handed to her but as McGregor's character states in the movie "You shouldn’t think of her as a woman. No, that would be a mistake." She knows how to handle herself.

In a time when fight sequences have become full of quick cuts and body doubles Soderbergh takes a refreshing look. He shoots most of the sequences in long view and wide shots. He also uses long continuous shots to show off just how talented his leading lady is. He cast her for the very purpose of being a believable action hero who could handle the men around her. There is also no music over these sequences, he isn't trying to over-dramatize the scenes and lets the audience hear every hit and grunt. This is Soderbergh's first attempt at a martial arts film and makes it his own allowing the actors to do the heavy lifting instead of over dubbing everything with effects.

Soderbergh's head is clearly involved in the action and not so much the plot. The story is kind of ridiculous so don't try and overly concern yourself with it. Even Len Dobbs, who wrote the story and has worked previously with Steven, boils the plot points down by the end of the movie. It lacks any kind of convincing story to get the audience to care about his characters. The story seems more concerned with the visuals whether it be an action sequence or the background as he takes his movie to various locations across the globe. And if the writing staff isn't worried about the story I wouldn't either, just sit back and enjoy

Haywire is a solid action movie that runs at a brief 90 minutes. Gina Carano does a fine job as the indie-female version of Jason Bourne. It is a fun movie and much of that is clearly attributed to Soderbergh. He does a great job getting what he needs out of everyone on his staff and knows when to take his foot off the gas and let the audience enjoy the view. Plus it is always fun watching a woman kick ass. B-