Her

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson (voice), Amy Adams, Chris Pratt, Olivia Wilde
Directed by: Spike Jonze
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Romance, Science Fiction
2013

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A man (Joaquin Phoenix) begins a romantic relationship with his operating system, which has been programmed to have a personality while it manages his life.

Review:

Tim: Her is a fascinating look at one aspect of humanity's future. The film takes place in the not-too-distant future and explores the growing relationship humans will have with technology. In this case, a man falls in love with his operating system. This isn't Windows, Chrome, or iOS, however. It's an operating system designed to be so sophisticated, it's like you are talking to a real person. It can learn and grow as it gets to know your needs. Now, for some people, this is a frightening, sick, crazy idea. However, it represents a very real possible future for humanity. With features like Apple's Siri, we are already talking to our phones and devices. As technology continues to advance, there will come a point where the technology feels nearly human.

What I loved about this movie is the question of whether Joaquin Phoenix's character was in a healthy relationship or not. The unhealthy aspect is pretty obvious- his OS, named Samantha, isn't real. He was in a romantic relationship with a nonhuman entity. Could the OS truly feel? Could it truly love? Or was it just following its programming? That could be unhealthy. But, as the movie progresses, you see how good this relationship is for him. He's happier about life, about himself, he's more social, less depressed, more engaged with the world around him when he's "dating" Samantha. Does it matter, in the end, how "real" something is, if it makes you happy, enriches your life, and makes you a better person? It's a fascinating question and one that I explored in my own head as I watched this film. I loved that Spike Jonze presented this query with his unexpected, unconventional film.

The movie itself is good, but not quite great. It's a little long at 126 hours and goes through several long stretches where not a lot happens. I'm all for character development, but the movie dragged in a few too many places. Jonze shows a tendency to give us more than we need on multiple occasions. The film tends to linger a bit too long- after a certain point, we get the relationship between our protagonist and Samantha, and yet we keep getting these long, draw out scenes of Phoenix staring at an ocean or contemplating his happiness. We get it, time to move on.

Joaquin Phoenix was good, but not quite great. I loved that he made us believe he was falling in love with his Operating System. That must have been difficult to pull off without another actor in the same room with you. He was falling in love with a voice (which isn't unique for anyone who's been in a long-distance relationship). I thought Phoenix did a superb job of conveying a wide range of emotions- he's happy, elated, full of life, but he is also depressed, lost, miserable. He had so many different emotions to depict in this film and he hits the right notes. I wish I felt more of a connection to his character, but still, he gives a very good performance. Scarlett Johansson was quite good as the voice of Samantha. I can't remember a time I felt an actor's presence so powerfully by only hearing her voice. She makes her presence felt through her voice work. That's one of the biggest highlights of the entire film.

The supporting cast is good, but underutilized. I wanted more scenes with Amy Adams. It felt like her presence added to the film, but her small role wasted her talent. Chris Pratt had a few good moments, but again, he doesn't have much to do. Olivia Wilde shows up for one or two scenes. This movie could have used a little more focus on a character like Adams and a little less time with Phoenix walking with an earpiece in.

For the most part, Jonze gives us a thought-provoking movie about humans, technology, and our collision course. He directs the movie quite well, but does have a few missteps, especially in the middle of the film. The scene where Samantha hires a surrogate for intimacy felt oddly filmed and disjointed with the rest of the movie. As I mentioned, there's too many scenes that don't move the story forward as much as they should. This movie won 1 Academy Award- Spike Jonze for Best Original Screenplay. It's well deserving. It was nominated for 4 others (including Best Picture), but I'm glad it didn't pick up any more trophies. Yes, the script was amazing and deserves a great deal of credit. The rest of the movie is good, but not approaching great. Jonze didn't get a nomination for Best Director, Phoenix missed out on Best Actor, and I have to agree. Both did good work, but it wasn't quite best-of-the-year.

In the end, I did enjoy Her and the intellectual questions it raised. However, it wasn't quite as touching or emotional as many people made it out to be. It's a unique film (which I very much appreciate), but the execution of that unique idea was only slightly better than average. This is a good movie, but it's no where near my top 10 of 2013.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



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