A romantic comedy about love and control from the directors of Little Miss Sunshine, Ruby Sparks is an appealingly wacky story about novelist Calvin (Paul Dano) and his relationship with a fictitious woman. Struggling with writer's block and grieving over a failed actual relationship, Calvin looks to his brother (Chris Messina) and therapist (Elliott Gould) for guidance, but initially he finds only distraction and frustration. The therapist suggests an assignment that soon has Calvin writing about Ruby Sparks (Zoe Kazan), a fictitious woman who loves him completely and unconditionally. The only problem is that Calvin is becoming obsessed with his new character, imagining that he's actually spending every waking moment with this ideal woman he's created--surely a sign that he's losing his mind. When Calvin discovers that other people can see Ruby too, he throws himself wholeheartedly into the perfect relationship with the perfect woman. Then he starts to feel guilty about possessing absolute control over Ruby's thoughts and actions and begins to question whether Ruby really loves him or whether he is making her love him. Calvin locks away his manuscript and stops writing, and things begin to change between the couple. Eventually Calvin must decide whether he can be content the way things are or whether he must set his creation free--even if it costs him his own happiness. Ruby Sparks is a romantic comedy full of laughably ridiculous situations, but it's also a thought-provoking film about control and acceptance. --Tami Horiuchi