The Best Movie I've Seen in 2013

Rating: 9/10 (17 June 2014)

Her tells the story about Theodore Twombly (wonderfully played by Joaquin Phoenix) who suffers from his upcoming divorce from his ex-wife to be Catherine (Rooney Mara). To overcome his loneliness, he purchases a new, talking operating system. He gives his OS a female identity and soon his new friend introduces herself as Samantha (Scarlett Johansson in a great voice performance). The two begin a friendship that soon turns into a romance.
Her is a totally original and unique love story. But the script is not only original, it is also wonderfully written: It offers great romantic and simply joyous moments, but contains also several comedic elements which are revealed by Joaquin Phoenix' marvelous performance. With this performance Phoenix proves that he is one of the most versatile actors of his generation. It's hard to imagine that this man played the alcohol addicted, aggressive and sometimes frightening Freddie Quell in The Master just about one year before Her. And also Scarlett Johansson shows again her talent as an actress and that she doesn't need a body to deliver a delightful performance.
But what makes this movie to the best movie of 2013 (in my opinion) is that it makes you think about social media. Will a talking OS really appear? Or should we rather ask ourselves WHEN will it appear? Are human relationships stringently necessary or can a human being be replaced by a computer? Can an OS really feel human emotions and is it possible to "install" human feelings? Or do we just escape into a media world because it's just easier to talk to a computer instead to deal with real human emotions and confrontations?
The beautiful score and good performances as well as the lovely production design help to let this movie become a great experience.