HER - Review

Her

Sci-Fi/Romantic Comedy/Drama, 2013
2 hours, 5 minutes
Written and Directed by Spike Jonze
Rated R for "language, sexual content and brief graphic nudity"

Starring
Joaquin Phoenix
Scarlett Johansson
Amy Adams
Rooney Mara

"I've never loved anyone the way I love you."

Let's be real, most romantic movies are marketed towards women. Always a hot girl falling for a nerdy guy, or a hot guy falling for a nerdy girl, or two stupidly attractive people having stupid first world problems and they're all mostly dumb. When looking at romance movies, there are only three that come to mind as being perfect. Lost In Translation, a funny, quiet, and simple romance, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, a bizarre, bittersweet, and unusually clever look at an ordinary couple's relationship. The third would be Her. 

Okay, now the premise is really weird. A lonely guy falls in love with his AI operating system... yeah, it's pretty strange. That being said, it's actually rather sweet. The film stars Joaquin Phoenix as a lonely, recently divorced man named Theodore. Theodore is a writer, a man of simple taste. One day, Theodore picks up a new operating system for his computer, simply named OS 1. The OS is an artificial intelligence that grows and learns over time after getting to know the user. Theodore's OS (voiced by Johansson) names herself Samantha. Theodore is a little uncomfortable at first, but quickly warms up to the idea. Soon, Samantha starts asking questions because she is learning how to "feel" emotions. So... they start dating. Each other. And it goes without saying that it's strange and a little uncomfortable at times, but you get used to it. And crazier still, you start to believe that what they have is, well, real. And like most relationship dramas, things get out of hand, which gets into some pretty strange territory.

It's strange premise aside, Her is very impressive visually. The world is made up of a sleek, yet warm and muted color palette. The year is never defined, but one can assume that it's in the near future. Everything has a futuristic vibe to it, even the fashion. And I suppose a lot of the technology in the film exists already. For example, Theodore's first OS before Samantha is the equivalent of Apple's Siri. He has a tiny, wireless earpiece, a phone, and a computer, but it's all connected to one another.

The performances are equally impressive. Phoenix is a very sympathetic character. He's just an ordinary guy with some problems, and his ability to act without another person in the room is very natural. Johansson's voice work is very impressive as well. She doesn't feel like just a voice, she feels like a real character. You can pick up on the smallest of nuances in her voice. It's one of her best performances to date.

As unusual as it may seem, Her is probably one of my favorite movies of the year. It's a different kind of sci-fi, the kind of sci-fi that doesn't need an incredibly high concept. It's a low concept character drama that uses a high concept world to tell it's story and it pays off in spades. And on top of that, it's truthful especially in today's age. It will make you think a lot more than you'll expect.

I think if there's just one movie that I remember from this year, it's going to be this one.

9.8/10