Love will turn you upside down, inside out and take you the dizzying heights of rapture and the depths of despair. And somewhere all of those collide in the woozy and charming trailer for "Ruby Sparks," the latest from "Little Miss Sunshine" directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris (and their first film since their breakout hit).
Written by co-star Zoe Kazan, the film is led by her boyfriend, Paul Dano, who plays Calvin, an unlucky-in-love novelist struggling to follow up his hugely successful debut. To help get over his writer's block, he creates a fictional dream girl, Ruby (Kazan), to be his muse, but a week later, finds that she's sitting on his couch in the flesh. He's essentially willed his ideal perfect woman into existence. It's a tricky, Charlie Kaufman-esque conceit to pull off but it seems to be a success. Woozy and definitely romantic, the high concept seems be grounded in very genuine and sincere emotions, with a good hearty dose of comedy to go with it. All told, it works for us and looks like it could be great alternate choice to the blockbuster schlock this summer.
And there is much more to see, as the film boasts a solid supporting cast including Antonio Banderas, Annette Bening, Elliott Gould, Steve Coogan, Chris Messina, Deborah Ann Woll, Alia Shawkat and Aasif Mandvi. "Ruby Sparks" opens on July 25th. And in case you're wondering, the song at the beginning of the trailer is "Wood" by Vampire Weekend keyboardist/guitarist Rostam.