Movies we love... Her (2013)
Spike Jonze' new film "Her" is probably a movie that will engage everybody on some level. We know a few who have been quite swept away by it, and others who are left wondering "what's the big deal?" But we think it will enter the social consciousness of the international film community in a big way soon because of word of mouth and its unique concept. Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix), a man challenged by social relationships, develops an intense personal one with his new OS (operating system) for which he chooses a female persona. (It will help too that the picture was nominated for an Oscar as the best motion picture of the year.)
Set in an indeterminate future in which the concept of artificial intelligence is a given, the OS once installed picks her own name, Samantha, and proceeds to grow a personality... one so amiable, personable and supportive that she completely sweeps Theodore off his feet... the film becomes, in essence, a love story. Samantha, by the way, is voiced by actress Scarlett Johansson.
Other actresses in smaller parts score well also: Rooney Mara is Theodore's estranged wife seeking a divorce (the scene in which they meet to sign the papers is a jewel), and Amy Irving is Amy, a co-worker and friend who, like Theodore, is seeking the perfect relationship and feeling inadequate to the task. In our opinion, she supplies a heart to this rather inhuman scenario.
But the film belongs to Joaquin Phoenix who is in virtually every scene and who carries the film superbly in an acting tour-de-force. Performing most scenes against an off-screen voice had to be difficult but he is natural and completely convincing even is some awkward and embarrassing situations that lessor actors might have played for laughs. (There is a sexual aspect to the relationship.) Phoenix's Theodore is intelligent, sweet, and kind in a way that leaves one wondering why he seems so alone and introverted since it seems not to be by choice.
We will not reveal how far the director develops this concept or the amazing turns the plot line takes, but you will never be bored by what is essentially a film about personality... granted it is a commentary too on social constructs and the purpose and meaning of life. There is a bit of the metaphysical, implied mostly some amazing visual diversions. The look of the film is part of the appeal... clean and colorful, set in a world apparently without squalor, crime, or old age - this is a future world much like paradise, without the garden. There are children - one particularly fine scene involves a party for Theodore's four-year-old goddaughter (?) yet children do not figure in the scenes we witness. And so Theodore's world has a certain vapidity... which may just be the point Mr. Jonze is trying to make. Maybe it's not about relationships at all, but about a world of technology in which human relationships are quickly becoming obsolete. If that's the case, then we will leave it to you to decide if the lyrical ending holds out some hope in that regard.
Set in an indeterminate future in which the concept of artificial intelligence is a given, the OS once installed picks her own name, Samantha, and proceeds to grow a personality... one so amiable, personable and supportive that she completely sweeps Theodore off his feet... the film becomes, in essence, a love story. Samantha, by the way, is voiced by actress Scarlett Johansson.
Other actresses in smaller parts score well also: Rooney Mara is Theodore's estranged wife seeking a divorce (the scene in which they meet to sign the papers is a jewel), and Amy Irving is Amy, a co-worker and friend who, like Theodore, is seeking the perfect relationship and feeling inadequate to the task. In our opinion, she supplies a heart to this rather inhuman scenario.
But the film belongs to Joaquin Phoenix who is in virtually every scene and who carries the film superbly in an acting tour-de-force. Performing most scenes against an off-screen voice had to be difficult but he is natural and completely convincing even is some awkward and embarrassing situations that lessor actors might have played for laughs. (There is a sexual aspect to the relationship.) Phoenix's Theodore is intelligent, sweet, and kind in a way that leaves one wondering why he seems so alone and introverted since it seems not to be by choice.
We will not reveal how far the director develops this concept or the amazing turns the plot line takes, but you will never be bored by what is essentially a film about personality... granted it is a commentary too on social constructs and the purpose and meaning of life. There is a bit of the metaphysical, implied mostly some amazing visual diversions. The look of the film is part of the appeal... clean and colorful, set in a world apparently without squalor, crime, or old age - this is a future world much like paradise, without the garden. There are children - one particularly fine scene involves a party for Theodore's four-year-old goddaughter (?) yet children do not figure in the scenes we witness. And so Theodore's world has a certain vapidity... which may just be the point Mr. Jonze is trying to make. Maybe it's not about relationships at all, but about a world of technology in which human relationships are quickly becoming obsolete. If that's the case, then we will leave it to you to decide if the lyrical ending holds out some hope in that regard.
