Ruby Sparks poster

Ruby Sparks (2012)

Film · 1h 44m · Rated R

Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Romance

A melancholic writer's whimsical fantasy woman comes to life, leading to an intimate, witty, and romantic struggle.

Melancholy, with dry wit. A date-night pick at a measured pace. Emotionally it is heavy.

Streaming on Prime Video.

Ruby Sparks parents guide

Moderate sex and nudity, and no real violence, about what an R should carry.

Scare
Not scary
Jump scares
None noted
Gore
No gore
Violence
No real violence
Sex and nudity
Moderate
Moderate means a sex scene or nudity on screen, even brief, or sexual violence that is described or implied but never shown.
Language
Moderate
Some strong profanity, a few f-words.

How we rate: an AI reads what is known about each title and tags it 0 to 3; we check the tags against a hand-rated set and correct them by hand when readers tell us. Estimates, not a scene-by-scene review. Spot a mistake? Tell us.

What is Ruby Sparks about?

Calvin is a young novelist who achieved phenomenal success early in his career but is now struggling with his writing – as well as his romantic life. Finally, he makes a breakthrough and creates a character named Ruby who inspires him. When Calvin finds Ruby, in the flesh, sitting on his couch about a week later, he is completely flabbergasted that his words have turned into a living, breathing person.

Does it have a happy ending? (spoiler-safe)

It leaves the ending open to interpretation.

Cast and crew

Directed byValerie Faris, Jonathan Dayton
StarringPaul Dano, Zoe Kazan, Chris Messina, Annette Bening, Antonio Banderas, Alia Shawkat

More like Ruby Sparks

Ruby Sparks is on our Comedy on Prime Video, Romance on Prime Video and Fantasy on Prime Video lists.

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Lists with the same feel: Melancholy and Date night.

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Uses the TMDB API; not endorsed or certified by TMDB. Intensity, content, tone and pace tags are CouchRot's own.