Worth seeing (or hearing, to be precise) if only just for Scarlett Johansson

Rating: Null/10 (13 March 2014)

After "Her"'s publicity from its Oscar win (Best Original Screenplay), most general moviegoers would have an idea of what this movie is about – a futuristic romance between the protagonist Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) and his newly acquired operating system that is sort of an electronic information housekeeper and secretary. During initialization of the system, when asked to choose the gender of the voice, he decides on a woman. When idly asking for "her" name, he is told "Samantha". Intellectually alert (albeit temperamentally introvert) he promptly notes that just one moment ago, the OS didn't even have a gender, let alone a name. He is then enlightened by Samantha – it took her 0.02 seconds to go through the two hundred thousand plus names in the book on naming (in her memory bank, of course) and select one she feels most suitable. The story takes off from there, soaring gracefully into a romance that is at once surreal and real.
A little bit of background: "Samantha", I surmise, came from Samantha Morton who played the part of the bodiless and faceless female lead by executing the dialogue with Phoenix from inside a box (reportedly) throughout the shooting. Eventually, writer-director Spike Jonze was not satisfied that her voice was projecting the level of self-confidence required of the "character" and brought in Scarlett Johansson. The rest is history.
Anybody who has watched and heard Johansson will not be able to stop wondering why she was not cast from day one. Undeniably visually attractive, she possesses a voice (and the delivery of it) that captivates the audience, not only when they close their eyes (that would have been easy) but even when her beauty actively competes for their attention. In this movie, playing the computer OS that grows and acquires a complete personality, she adjusted her normally soothing alto range a somewhat higher pitch, which is suitable. Nothing is lost in her pitch perfect (no pun intended) diction, nuances and other aspect of delivery. Johansson's voice is by far the most important thing instrument to lending this romance a strong credibility. She gets to sing too, mesmerizing, bewitching, and reminds me of Julie Delpy in the last scene of "Before sunset".
Behind a Groucho Marx mustache, Phoenix is all but recognizable if you are thinking about his explosive performance in "Walk the line" (2005). As pensive, reflective Theodore, he has "isolation" written all over his face. Theodore is a character that tempts and actor to overact by going too far in underacting (pardon the oxymoron). Phoenix hits the right note and deservedly earned a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actor in the "Musical or Comedy" category.
There are three female support roles. As Theodore's ex-wife, Hollywood's own "Girl with a Dragon Tattoo" Rooney Mara is a mere cameo. Playing a good friend (probably the ONLY friend), a "buddy" rather than a love interest, Amy Adam has reasonable screen time. Radiantly beautiful, Olivia Wilde is a welcome sight in any movie. Here, she appears in a cameo as Theodore's blind date (no name). Not quite convincing is why, young and beautiful, this character suffers from such a paralyzing lack in self-confidence.
Back to our lead female role, there is an interesting theory about casting Johansson's voice rather than someone less known. I am familiar with Morton, particularly her Oscar-nominated performance in "In America" (2002), but I doubt if many infrequent moviegoers would recognize her, even if in flesh as opposed to by voice only. On the other hand, although she never appears on the screen, Johansson's voice would undoubtedly conjure up in the audience's mind an image of her, which would be an enhancement rather than a detriment to the movie. This is all quite debatable but I, for one, agree.
One other thing that absolutely deserved mentioning is the cinematography: warm glow and soft hue conjuring up a meandering dreamy landscapes (which is at times concrete or metal-glass) that well complements the story.