A Brave Effort, Flawed but Absolutely Timely

Rating: 6/10 (17 February 2014)

We've come a long way since the space station computer HAL in "2001: A Space Odyssey" took things into its own chips and wrought havoc with the humans. Or have we? Human beings have always had a thing about control, whether it concerns the opposite sex or a piece of programmed metal, and the coming of the computer age has always terrified us (see George Orwell, Ray Bradbury, Rod Serling's "Twilight Zone" etc). With "Her," writer-director Spike Jonze takes a courageous step in examining our most recent binge whilst we're still in the midst of it. It's not only fascinating storytelling, but a warning. Still, it might have been nice to tighten the story, and to sharpen the pencil a bit more. If ever a movie cried out for being filmed in black and white, this is it. And the movie's point about disassociating from fellow humans in favor of the computers might have been handled more deftly: instead of people wandering aimlessly about outside waving there arms as they communicate with computers while walking right past other lonely souls without paying them notice, how about having folks crammed into an elevator or subway (or both) while completely ignoring each other? The poor fellow (Joaquin Phoenix) whose life is finally taken over by computers because he has such a rough time relating to people tends to be a bit whiny, and I could have done without the sometimes obvious nasality and fidgeting with the glasses. Yet Joaquin Phoenix still remains his old brilliant, brave self. Ditto the wondrous Amy Adams. One has the feeling Jonze isn't finished with this subject by a long shot, and that "Her" could be a part of, say, a trilogy. This film is worth your time, just got to hang in there. A muted "Bravo!"