When you really get down to it, the premise for this film is… well, let’s face it, a little weird. I mean, we’re talking about a film where a man falls in love with the female voice of his computer’s operating system. It’s hard to deny it but it is true. But even with that in mind, why does this end up being one of the best films of the year (or of 2013, to be exact)? Well, that is because even with this film’s strange story, director Spike Jonze (‘Being John Malkovich’, ‘Where the Wild Things Are’) succeeds when it comes to the film’s overall execution to the point where this relationship between a man and a computer doesn’t feel as strange as it may sound. The writing is top-notch because the characters, as well as their dialogue, feel real, allowing us to become emotionally connected to these people, even when one of them is just a voice in a computer. When you take that and add not only Jonze’s excellent direction but terrific performances from the cast, then you have one truly excellent film on your hands.
The film follows Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix); a man who writes personal love letters for people who find themselves unable to express their emotions towards their significant others. However, at the same time, Theodore is lonely and introverted, struggling to deal with his impending divorce to his wife/childhood sweetheart, Catherine (Rooney Mara). One day, he purchases a new operating system for his computer, OS 1, the first artificially intelligent system of its kind that is programmed to adapt and evolve like human beings. After being asked whether he wants the system to have either a male or female identity, he decides that his operating system should have a female voice and as a result he is introduced to his new ‘system’ who gives herself the name Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson). As Theodore and Samantha begin to bond, with the former starting to enjoy life more and the latter continuing to grow from her experiences, their relationship begins to get a bit more serious amidst her ‘limitations’.
This film mainly prospers because of the excellent writing (this film serving as Jonze’s first solo outing as a writer). Even when it’s working around a sci fi-ish premise, the characters still very much feel real and down-to-earth. That is also reflected in the dialogue. Regardless of your experiences with romantic relationships, good and/or bad, I think that you might be able to relate to a few of these characters because of their feelings and their interactions with each other. Heck, even Samantha, the operating system, feels real, not only because of how expressive she is and how she sees the world but also because of her relationship with Theodore. As weird as it may seem, it does manage to feel tangible. These two do have really superb chemistry which helps to ease the fact that this guy is basically in love with his computer. It’s quite something to be able to make us feel emotionally invested in a relationship as strange as this one and Jonze succeeds at doing just that.
Joaquin Phoenix is fantastic in the part of Theodore. He successfully disappears into the role of this man who may be able to express the romantic emotions that some people might not be able to say, but at the same time is lonely, introverted, and upset because of how his previous relationship is falling apart. This makes him incredibly sympathetic and Phoenix gives one of the best performances of his career. Likewise, Scarlett Johansson also shines as Samantha. She expresses so much emotion just by being a voice in the movie and that alone. I’m hoping that the Oscars will recognize her work, especially after she was ‘disqualified’ from being nominated for a Golden Globe. As for the rest of the cast, most of them only play minor roles in the film; of the film’s three female leads (not counting Johansson), Amy Adams has the biggest overall role compared to the other two (Rooney Mara as Theodore’s ex-wife Catherine and Olivia Wilde as a woman who goes on a blind date with him) but all three of them give their characters a sense of realism just like Phoenix and Johansson do with their characters.
‘Her’ is a film that may have a strange premise, but in execution, is full of real characters and dialogue that allow us to become emotionally invested in their actions. Yes, even to the point where we can believe in a relationship between a man and the female voice of his computer. There’s not much I can say about this film that’s bad. I mean, if I did have one solitary complaint, it would probably be that the film feels just a little bit too long at the end but even then that’s not really too much of a problem because everything else in the film is so good. The film has great direction, great writing, great performances, and a really great score (done here by Arcade Fire) among other things. I’m not too familiar with Jonze’s work as a director (I haven’t seen his other three films at the time I am writing this) but in the end, this might end up being one of his best out of the four films he has directed up to this point.
Rating: 4.5/5
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