Title: Her
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johnasson, Amy Adams, Rooney Mara
Writer: Spike Jonze
Director: Spike Jonze
Certificate: 12
Runtime: 120 minutes
Released: 23 June 2014
In the near-future, Los Angeles is shiny, perfect and beautiful, it’s clean and bright but dreamy and ethereal. People seem contented and very connected to their technology such as the new OS1 operating system. Director Spike Jonze has created another charming and enchanting film in the spirit of Being John Malkovich and Adaptation.
Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix) is having some problems. He’s getting divorced from his wife Catherine (Rooney Mara). Fortunately he still has his friends around him such Paul (Chris Pratt) and Amy (Amy Adams) who he’s known from his college years and ever-so-briefly was romantically involved with. Could Amy be a love interest?
But when Theodore gets a new operating system for his computer - the OS1 - his life changes, in what we might currently consider a weird way. He starts to develop a relationship with OS1 - who calls herself Samantha. And she has feelings for him too. But they are not alone - other people and their operating systems are also developing friendships and falling in love. And they are all developing their own personalities and lives. Samantha organises Theodore’s email and his appointments but she also has ‘cyber’-sex with him too.
Phoenix plays the role a little bit goofy and nerdy and it fits the character well. Even as just a voice Scarlett Johansson oozes sex-appeal so one can see why Twombly might be tempted as he is. When their relationship changes to something where they might both be interested in something more physical, a slight curve-ball is thrown by the introduction of a ‘surrogate’ in the form of a young woman to stand in for Samantha.
If the relationship doesn’t quite end up as you might expect then it at the very least enriches and improves Twombly’s life and no doubt Samantha’s too as they both grow, develop and evolve. Her is an interesting film that asks many questions about how we interact with technology, how we love, how we live and even the concepts of ownership and fidelity. It also features a brilliant soundtrack by Arcade Fire.
Her is highly recommended.
