Movies: Her

Score:  ***1/2 out of ***** (B)

Long Story Short:  Her is the Oscar-nominated, sci-fi romance film of Jonze and Phoenix, acclaimed director and actor, respectively.  While the acting is good (not just Phoenix but also Amy Adams in a small part), and the sci-fi and cultural commentary is intriguing, the central premise - human-computer romance - just doesn't work well.  And its effect on me, personally, was bitterness.  I can see it having a much different impact on other people, but I still don't view it as a must see, let alone an Oscar frontrunner.


Back to the normal reviews this week, and the first movies of 2014 (for a much different kind of film, read about Lone Survivor).  I hope that you enjoyed my 2013 top 10 and awards posts from last week; many of my choices didn't align very closely with the major national critics, but hopefully they gave you some good ideas that you wouldn't hear elsewhere.  Next week I'll have a sports post about the NFL playoffs, including Super Bowl, plus the Australian Open.  I wasn't sure what to think about Her when I saw the first trailer; Joaquin Phoenix is a good actor but tends to be in very strange films (eg: The Master).  Once I finally read about the premise, it sounded interesting, and as an Oscar contender, it seemed reasonable to expect high quality.  Her was directed by Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich) and stars Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson and Amy Adams.

I'll only give a brief plot summary for this film.  It's set in a (seemingly) near future American city, where Theodore Twombly (Phoenix) lives and works as a romantic letter writer.  Technology has advanced to the point that a new OS has been developed - it can accompany the owner everywhere via earpiece and matchbox-style hardware - that has consciousness.  Theodore, lonely due to his introversion and life experiences, quickly grows close to his new OS, named Samantha (voiced by Johansson).  The rest of the film is about this relationship which, as you can imagine, is a little different than that of a normal human-to-human one.

The cast of Her is relatively small but good.  Joaquin Phoenix plays Theodore, the central role in the film.  Phoenix is a very good actor, of course, and he plays the introverted yet romantic man believably (kind of reminded me of a serious version of Big Bang Theory's Leonard - even in appearance).  Considering that for most of the time he has no other actors to work with, his performance is even more impressive.  But - and this certainly isn't all his fault - Theodore simply isn't all that engaging a character.  Calls for Johansson to get an Oscar nod for her voice part as the "conscious" OS Samantha are a little ridiculous, I think.  She does a good job, but not so well to compensate for the obvious limitations.  Amy Adams is great once again - in a smaller, much less striking role than in American Hustle - as Theodore's friend.  She's the most likable character, and I only wish she had more screen time.  Also involved are Rooney Mara, Twombly's ex who delivers one withering scene (more on this later), and Chris Pratt, hilarious as usual as Twombly's boss.

Her ends up as primarily a romantic film, with significant cultural commentary and sci-fi elements involved as well.  It does an OK job at the first part, and excels at the other two.  All those involved - writer, director, and actors - had quite a challenge to try to pull off a convincing romantic relationship between a human and a bodiless computer.  Phoenix's acting, as noted, is very good, and Johansson "speaks" as you might think such an entity would.  There are also a few scenes of striking (even disturbing) emotion, most notably when Samantha tries to make physical love to Twombly through a (willing, non-prostitute) surrogate.  But I seldom felt a true romantic connection between the two, and the montages of "normal" romantic time together grew wearisome rather quickly.  If anything, the one real-time meeting we see between Twombly and his ex is the most emotional scene in the entire film, one where she eviscerates Twombly so badly (I even felt hurt on his account) it could have - but doesn't - lead to a major change.  On the other hand, the cultural and sci-fi aspects - which basically intertwine - are pretty fascinating.  Twombly is often surrounded by other people, and yet there is a distinct feeling of isolation as everyone seems to be talking only to themselves (rather, to their own OS).  The near-future world is very convincing and believable. A final note, there is a bit of humor in Her - I wouldn't call it "hilarious" as some critics have, but there are some chuckles, mostly produced by Chris Pratt and one of Twombly's video games.

***

Considering its 94% rating on RT and Oscar nomination for best picture, I had high expectations for Her, but I was not as impressed as other critics.  It comes down to the central premise of the film - the romance between human and computer - being a failure, and simply the bitter taste it left me with.  For everything in the film to truly click together, the audience has to believe in Theodore and Samantha as being in love, but it just never got there for me.  It would be one thing if the script seemed to indicate that Theodore thought he loved Samantha but never did - but that's not the case.  Also, while Her is not a downbeat film, I felt kind of cold and empty walking out of the theater.  Many of the films I go to I would not mind seeing again, and some I immediately want to rewatch, but I have no such desire at all with this film.  As usual, it's not all bad, though.  The acting of Phoenix and Adams, and even the voice work of Johansson, keep you engaged (most of the time - it could have been 15 minutes or so shorter).  And the biggest draw is the interesting concept of where human relationships are headed in a world of increasingly sophisticated technology.  Her serves as a definitive warning (perhaps even more so than the director intended), and it's something worth thinking about.  Still, don't bother rushing out to see this; a Netflix viewing is perfectly good, and afterwards you can watch a light-hearted sitcom or something to cheer yourself up again.