Once-promising writer Calvin (Dano) has struggled for 10 years to follow-up the iconic novel he wrote at 19. Despite coaxing from his agent (Mandvi) and therapist (Gould), and teasing from his brother (Messina), the paper in his manual typewriter remains stubbornly blank. So he decides to write about the girl (Kazan) from his dreams. Then a few days later he discovers Ruby in his kitchen. He's sure he's going mad, but others see her too, so he decides to go with it, even introducing her to his hippie mother and stepdad (Bening and Banderas).

Much of this is played for laughs, with moments of goofy slapstick and raucous silliness. But things take a darker turn when Ruby starts to develop her own interests and Calvin decides to write her back into control. The obvious result is that the more pliant Ruby ceases to be he woman of Calvin's dreams: relationships are built on trust, give and take, and unpredictability, right? And on another level, the creative process only works when you don't try to push it down the desired path.

At the centre, Dano is charmingly offhanded, generating sparky chemistry with real-life partner Kazan, who's sometimes rather too kooky. But we root for the relationship even if it seems absurd to do so. Meanwhile, Messina adds a bracing voice of reason as the only person in on Calvin's secret; he's clearly jealous of his brother's power over Ruby, as opposed to his inability to understand his wife (Trucks). And Bening and Banderas are hilarious in their brief scenes.

It's fairly obvious where this is heading, mainly because there aren't many options available. Essentially, this is a fairly normal romantic-comedy that has an offbeat twist in the premise and some unusually dark moments along the way (Calvin's big confrontation with Ruby is very hard to watch). So it's not surprising that the ending is a bit warm and cute, designed to send us out with a smile on our faces.

themes, language

4.Oct.12