HER (2013)

Genre: Comedy/Drama/Romance
Director: Spike Jonze
Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Pratt, Rooney Mara, Olivia Wilde, Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Spike Jonze, Sam Jaeger, Katherine Boecher, Rachel Ann Mullins, David Azar
RunTime: 2 hrs 6 mins
Rating: M18 (Sexual Scene)
Released By: Golden Village Pictures
Official Website: http://www.herthemovie.com/#/home
 
Opening Day: 16 January 2014

Synopsis: Set in the Los Angeles of the slight future, "Her" follows Theodore Twombly, a complex, soulful man who makes his living writing touching, personal letters for other people. Heartbroken after the end of a long relationship, he becomes intrigued with a new, advanced operating system, which promises to be an intuitive entity in its own right, individual to each user. Upon initiating it, he is delighted to meet "Samantha," a bright, female voice, who is insightful, sensitive and surprisingly funny. As her needs and desires grow, in tandem with his own, their friendship deepens into an eventual love for each other. From the unique perspective of Oscar-nominated filmmaker Spike Jonze comes an original love story that explores the evolving nature-and the risks-of intimacy in the modern world.

Movie Review:

All of us - male or female, young or old, single or married - crave connection. Simply put, we don’t want to be alone. We want to find a companion, someone to spend our days with, someone to talk to during the nights, and hopefully someone to accompany us for the rest of our lives. The protagonist in Spike Jonze’s sad, funny and soulful love story ‘Her’ is no different. Even as he holds a day job composing heartfelt notes-for-hire at a company named beautifulhandwrittenletters.com, Theodore Twombly, is lonely.

Enter Samantha, the first of its kind (hence the term ‘OS1’) Siri-like operating system that possesses a consciousness - and by that we mean the ability for that system to learn and respond to its user’s dreams and desires. To put it simply, this is the wildly inventive love story between a man on the brink of depression and his cutting-edge OS that possesses intuition, curiosity and most of all an amazing adaptability. Oh, it doesn’t hurt that she has a vivacious female voice that makes her fully alive, charming, emotionally rounded and alluring.

On the surface, ‘Her’ appears to be a high-concept premise that is pretty much self-explanatory in and of itself. And yet, Jonze will surprise even the greatest of expectations by turning it into a thoughtful meditation on human relationships in a slightly futuristic world that isn’t quite as different as the one that we currently inhabit. At first, Samantha functions as his personal assistant, reminding Theodore of his appointments, his playlists and his email correspondences. But pretty soon, their relationship deepens - not only is she proofreading his work, she helps him play his video games, jokes and flirts with him and even goes on a double date with a guy (Chris Pratt) Theodore works with.

Can you blame Theodore? As voiced to full life by Scarlett Johansson, she is wise, understanding and playful. Perhaps even more so than a fellow human being, she is attentive and responsive. So Theodore treats her as his date, tucking his cigarette case-like device in his breast pocket with the camera lens facing out, popping the ear bud in, and taking her on a stroll around town, on a boat ride, down to the beach. In every respect besides physical, she is his ‘girlfriend’ - and Jonze’s sharply written screenplay suffused with emotion and humanity creates no doubt in the viewer’s mind of the plausibility of their virtual relationship.

Therein lies the brilliance of Jonze’s first self-penned movie; despite the far-fetched nature of the premise and even how alienating it may sound at first, Jonze grounds the notion of a human being falling in love with a sentient artificial intelligence with the disarming charm of some of the best boy-meets-girl romantic movies you’ve ever seen. And much as it is easy to see his story as an allegory of how technology can somehow never substitute the authenticity of the human interaction, Jonze is better than to simply let his sci-fi love story be just that.

Instead, the film gets much deeper into the meta-physical as the relationship between Theodore and Samantha deepens. From a story about loneliness and longing, Jonze’s film evolves into a cautionary tale of the nature of consciousness whether in a human or in an A.I. As Samantha constantly reminds Theodore, “I have intuition, the ability to grow and evolve through my experiences, just like you”, Jonze poses an interesting question of just how easily technology can give up on us if we make it better than us and give it that very consciousness to realise that. Yes, it’s as twisty as it sounds, but Jonze portrays the ambivalence in the problems and solutions that follow perfectly.

As contradictory as it sounds, it is a him at the centre of ‘Her’ - and yes, we’re talking about none other than Joaquin Phoenix himself. Even though Phoenix is known for playing wounded individuals isolated from the world, his performance here is nothing short of a revelation, especially when you consider how he had to film his scenes with a co-star who was always offscreen. In Phoenix’s heartfelt portrayal of an individual searching for that universal need for connection, he conveys not just his character’s loneliness and desperation but also his capacity for hope and true love. Much has already been said about Johansson’s memorable turn; indeed the actress is pitch-perfect (pun intended), expressing not only her character’s moods so palpably but also giving Samantha a physicality that makes her feel present in flesh and blood.

But perhaps the strongest praise should be reserved for Jonze, from whose imagination and inspiration this brilliantly original masterpiece was born.  Not just in terms of the casting, but also in every aspect of the production, there is no doubting the clarity of Jonze’s vision, visible in the costume designs to the colour schemes to the props and right down to the camera angles. Jonze’s choice of music is also impeccable, with songs from Karen O and Arcade Fire’s score offering a beguilingly raw and honest touch to the feelings within. This is by far Jonze’s most personal film yet, and it is easily his most poignant and moving. Many filmmakers have attempted to portray the idea of isolation and connection, of solitude and companionship, but none have come as close or as inventive to this. There is meaning and feeling in every frame, from the opening words which we learn are no more than Theodore’s words for another couple to the closing sound as a human breath. It is heartbreaking and heartbreakingly beautiful, a must-see movie of the year. 

Movie Rating:

(One of the most original films you’ll see this year, Spike Jonze’s sci-fi romance of a man who falls in love with an advanced operating system is funny, sad and soulful in equal measure)

Review by Gabriel Chong