This is the first movie by directorial team Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris since the worldwide success of ‘Little Miss Sunshine‘ in 2006. No pressure guys! They’ve taken six years to get back into the saddle, and it was always going to be a difficult movie to follow.

Ruby Sparks is the story of a successful writer, who is struggling to start his new novel. As an attempt to get the words flowing, he starts writing about the woman he’s been seeeing in his dreams the last few nights, when…. ok, it’s hokey. The whole dream girl premise of the movie, a writer creating is perfect woman is nonsense, and many people will struggle to get past that. You have to just accept that and move on, there’s some quite rewarding things just past it!

The two main characters are well acted by the Zoe Kazan and Paul Dano (who also features in Looper), but the main thrill is in the writing, as they continue to have fun the central conceit. At times it goes to Kauffman-esque extremes, and is playful and inventive with the device. This is a sweet and inventive movie, that’s a cut above the average romance! Another one I’d recommend.

Grade: C