Lonelier Than Ever

Rating: 8/10 (9 January 2014)

A delicate, lovely film about a lonely man who falls in love with his computer operating system.
Set in a near future, "Her" captures better than any movie in recent memory the paradox of the modern technological age: with gadgets that allow us the instant gratification of connecting with other people whenever we want to, we're somehow lonelier as a race than ever.
With all of the awards season chatter about best this and best that, I can't believe more people aren't talking about Joaquin Phoenix's performance in this film, and I don't even really like him usually as an actor. He carries "Her" virtually single-handedly, his only company for most of the movie the voice of Scarlett Johansson, who plays his operating system so well you forget this is a movie about the relationship between man and machine. The film may be too quiet and slow moving for some, and I admit I very much liked it without exactly loving it, but it's certainly one of the best and most original movies I've seen this year.
The film also stars Amy Adams, wonderful as ever in a role very different from the one she's concurrently playing in "American Hustle," and Rooney Mara, who I could easily fall in love with myself.
Grade: A