strange material made worthwhile by strong cast and crew

Rating: Null/10 (11 July 2014)

An unusual but sweet and palpable drama about a lonely, introverted, soon-to-be divorced writer looking to fill a large void in his life. Rather than meet or interact with another person, he purchases an artificial intelligence operating system (OS) with a female voice and adaptive personality, and soon forms a real romantic relationship with it! Director Jonze—known very well for his off-the-wall themes and storytelling methods—somehow manages to take this surreal setup and run with it, creating a deep and genuine story about human emotions, frailty, isolation, and loneliness. In this era of technological advancement (Siri, facebook, twitter, et al), the premise is only all the more fascinating. Phoenix is excellent as the awkward protagonist, and Johansson provides terrific vocal work as his 'nonexistent' girlfriend. Stretched beyond credulity at times, but consistently interesting throughout. ***