Exceptional and Emotional.

Rating: 8/10 (11 July 2018)

I did not expect a movie like this to have perhaps the most believable vision of the near future I've seen. The look of the world wasn't all techy and white like you usually see in futuristic movies, and instead looked pleasantly tasteful and bright. The technology seemed like a natural evolution of the tech we use now, although the real future will probably have more Apple and Amazon logos. Even Theodore's job of writing personal letters for people felt, sadly, like the future version of buying Hallmark cards for people to "show you care".
But of course, the most notable aspect of this movie is the idea that someone could develop an intimate relationship with an AI. I doubt that this kind of thing would be the first implementation of AI if we were to ever create that kind of technology. However, I think this interpretation of AI might be as scary as those of Westworld, Ex Machina, or Blade Runner. Creating an AI that is tailor made to you feels like it would be the last nail in the coffin of people not interacting with each other. Despite all the arguments that social media is not actually that social, at least it involves people interacting with other people instead of robots. But at the same time, it can't be denied that Theodore and Samantha's relationship is a real relationship and is even more pure in some ways because it is based solely on their interactions with each other. I don't quite understand how people started dating other people's OS's, but it was not surprising that Theodore was one of many people that had an OS as a significant other.
In terms of execution, I think this could have won best picture and definitely deserved its win in Best Original Screenplay. Joaquin Phoenix gave an excellent performance of a deep character, and Scarlett Johannsen did a good job on her voice over. The minor parts were pretty impressive as well with Chris Pratt, Rooney Mara, and especially Amy Adams. Spike Jonze did a fabulous job directing as well, and I'm definitely interested to see his other movies now.
The sci-fi and romance genres are not often mixed for obvious reasons, but their combination has resulted in what I qualify to be just short of a masterpiece. I don't think that any other movies should try doing what Her did, but maybe it should encourage other artists to mix genres in effective ways more often. Shape of Water is the closest thing to an imitator that this movie has, which is not to say that it was a rip-off but it could be argued that it rode Her's coattails a bit. I would recommend this to everyone. It won't be most people's favorite movie, but I can't imagine anyone not liking it. If you like movies that make you cry, this will make you happy-cry and sad-cry in equal measure. Seriously, everyone should see this movie. Overall Rating: 8/10.