“Love is magic.”

That is one of the sweet taglines that Ruby Sparks draws you in with.  It prepares you for the premise, which is fantastical but something we’ve all wished for — that the character from the book/movie/tv show we love would magically appear in our home and be in love with us.

Calvin was a prodigy, dropping out of high school and publishing a best-selling novel.  Now he struggles to write anything beyond short stories.  But when his shrink tells him to write something about a person who could love his dog for what he is (a dog), he has a sudden burst of inspiration and he creates Ruby, his perfect woman.

Or so it seems.  While the tagline might seem sickeningly sweet, the movie itself is very honest when it comes to how the reality of love and relationships.  Even though he has literally written the girl of his dreams, as time goes on Ruby and Calvin find themselves having to face the reality (or unreality?) of it all.

I don’t want to say too much about this movie.  It does exactly what you expect it to do, but the entire cast of this film, especially Indie favorite Paul Dano and Zoe Kazan (who not only play the title character but is the screenwriter), who pull you in and help you see past what is a very simple story that we have heard before, but still rings true.