Set in futuristic Los Angeles, where all men wear high-waist pants, Her tells the story of Theodore Twombley (Joaquin Phoenix) a lonely poetic soul who falls in love with his artificially intelligent operating system, Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson).
With a Golden Globe for best Screenplay and five Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Her might just be the best movie you’ll watch on the big screen this year. This quirky romance is also Jonze’s first solo feature film.
Thinking back on 1985 teen sci-fi comedy Weird Science, it’s easy to see why the concept of Her has the potential to be cheesy, but Jonze has turned it into pure gold as his storytelling skills are so ingenious you can’t help falling in love with Theodore. Her is endearing, funny, heart warming and very pretty. The movie particularly hits home with its take on relationships and uncanny relatibility to Theodore’s relationship with his operating system.
Theodore, who writes personal letters for other people, is limited in his social interactions and mostly interacts with his one friend Amy (Amy Adams), who lives in the same apartment building as him.
When it seems that his fate won’t change any time soon, Theodore meets Samantha who pulls him out of his shell, by ironically drawing him closer into her world of digital interaction.
As with any romance, their relationship is met with its unique set of challenges. Theodore and Samantha are at two different places in their lives. Theodore, still in the process of sorting out his divorce, is stagnated whereas Samantha is blooming and discovering new ways of thinking and feeling every second.
With one half of the relationship only being portrayed by a voice, it’s difficult to imagine the possibility of a real intimate relationship between the characters. Yet, because of Jonze’s story, Phoenix and Johansson do an excellent job to make the relationship more than just believable on-screen but also plausible in real life.
The film is intricately wired with different themes and side plots which make you meditate on the condition of the relationships in your own life. It asks you to reconsider how connected you really are to those you consider close to you.
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