Dreary Jonze My Mother the Car update lacks its humor.

Rating: 3/10 (10 January 2014)

There comes a juncture in "her" where you are either going to go with it or bail on the plot conceit where a professional letter writer falls head over heels in love with a board operating system while passing up a series of opportunities with a trio of girls with perfect skin in smog choking, impersonal LA. Get the picture? There isn't one, of her, that is.
Call me heartless if you will but I am of the former. I just cannot get myself psyched watching Theodore, belt-less pants hitched above his belly button as he swoons for the invisible girl even if it is helped along somewhat by the idea of Scarlet Johannson's Claude Raines turn. One has to come to terms with the fact that if Jonze had the courage of conviction to see this through in all its absurdest glory he would not be utilizing the very recognizable voice of one of the hottest babes in Hollywood to soften his concept and literally paint a picture for you. If you want proof I offer up the ridiculous rush by critics to give awards to Scarlet for her invisible performance. Might an anonymous voice hold the nuance to reach such a level without pedigree?
"her" starts off at a saunter then vacillates between torpid and crawl. Joaquin Phoenix is outstanding showing some spurts of life in an otherwise two hour downer performance (including an abundance of elevator and monorail rides) that is one of the finest of a good year that unfortunately is in a film that is one of the most trying to endure. Drained of humor as well as depth of field ( shallow LA?)director Spike Jonze continues to underwhelm since his days of being Malkovich. The absurdity had originality, edge, sexiness, humor; "her" is just one languid disinterested jerk off that asks too much of its audience. Commentary on the times, prognosticator of the future? Perhaps but also a less inspired modern day version of the Wally Cox, Twilight Zone episode that economically tied things together with far more restraints ( time, budget, censorship)than this mopey big budget vision and with far more eloquence working within those constraints.
I realize I simplify perhaps by over looking (or getting) the symbolic implications behind this match made in Apple/Microsoft/Verizon?, so I may not be hip? hep? to the jive these days but I'm still capable of suspending disbelief to feel sympathy for movie aberrations ( King Kong, Frankenstein) but at least in these you have a corpus delicti. More close to home you have the similar voice of Mary Tyler Moore In Richard Diamond but at least the gams to go along with it.
Accenting Ted's lugubrious journey is some neo-Satie mixed with Walton's theme music and are you ready for this, some original music composed by the self named Sammantha ( more George Winston than Mozart but it's the thought that counts). Ya gotta believe. No thanks.
The ambiguous ending ( I miss this too?) gives you pause for thought but by then Ted's been on existential Sominex for two hours at which point "her' has you game for anything with exit in mind.