Digital love, human emotion. Another 'Wow!' from one of Hollywood's most inventive directors.

Rating: 8/10 (3 March 2014)

In the not-too-distant future, Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix), a writer who earns his living composing heartfelt letters for other people, is alone, lonely, almost divorced from Catherine (Rooney Mara), and playing video games with characters that are abusive to him. Seduced by an impressive ad campaign, Theodore buys a new operating system, answers a few questions, selects a female voice and 'meets' Her.
The Her in question is OS1, aka Samantha (Scarlett Johansson), but, as the commercial states, "It's not just an operating system, it's a consciousness." And so begins Theodore's and Samantha's relationship; a relationship that transcends that of computer and owner to become an affair of love and mutual understanding.
Spike Jonze's (who also wrote the screenplay) fourth feature as director is an odd and slightly disturbing look at our need to replace reality with technology. Incapable of making genuine friends we boast of having hundreds of Facebook 'friends; at a loss for meaningful conversation we revel in the banality of Twitter and its 140 character restrictions. Now, incapable of finding true love and happy ever after, we create a substitute for love with binary. The shock with Her is not that humanity could fail so monumentally that it must resort to the digital version of a sex doll but that Jonze masterfully makes it seem perfectly reasonable and palatable.
Her is perhaps the audio companion to the video of S1m0ne. Whereas Andrew Nichol's film gave us a movie star who was pure fantasy in physically form, Jonze has written a character that is seemingly real in everything but body. So advanced is the artificial intelligence that Samantha learns, suggests, leads and fully relates to Theodore. She is not merely a 'perfect' plaything that he controls completely and switches on and off at will, she has a mind of her own, a brain that hungers for touch and experiences, and she has a will as forceful as any human partner's.
Her looks at the cycle of relationships and asks us questions about ourselves, our hopes and our expectations. It is at times uncomfortable viewing as it forces us to look at how we deal with our emotions, how we react to those of our partners and what we invest in our personal relationships. Like Lars and the Real Girl, Her presents the issue as a actuality rather than an issue that we can dismiss as pure fantasy, and that is why it is uncomfortable viewing. Would you go there? How would you handle it if your friend introduced you to his new girlfriend and she turned out to be a voice on a computer?
Jonze cleverly balances the desirable futuristic advances with frightening possibilities while avoiding the obvious route of prejudice and judgment from others. Theodore's friend, Amy (Amy Adams), doesn't just tolerate his 'relationship', she supports it, understands it and embraces it to the point of going on a double date with the happy couple.
Phoenix gives another sensitive performance that allows us to care about and invest our time in Theodore. It's not that Theodore is a hero of the modern age, it's that, like us, or people we know, he has seen the flaw in his emotional life and advanced beyond Internet or speed dating and found an instant solution without the trauma of introductions and clumsy invitations to dance. It is a performance that very quickly dissolves the natural questions we have of "But how do they?" and replaces them with "Would I?"
Johansson's performance, though not as naturalistic as the girl next door Samantha initially sets out to be, yet again raises the question asked with Robin Williams' Aladdin and repeated most recently with Andy Serkis' Gollum: When is the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences finally going to create new Oscar category for Best Vocal Performance? I'm not saying, on the strength of Her, that she would deserve to win it, but it is just the latest, convincing performance from an actor who doesn't have the luxury of body or facial expressions to hide behind.
With a wonderful score from Arcade Fire to compliment the emotional battle upon the screen, Her is yet another fine achievement from one of the most original and inventive writer/directors working in Hollywood today. Yes, it's probably a 'niche' film, but this niche is deep enough to hold an awful lot admirers. Take a punt and join me in it.
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