Her

Rating: 10/10 (1 April 2020)

Her is a film directed by Spike Jonze that stars Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johanssen and Amy Adams and tells the story of a lonely writer who forms a complex relationship with his operating system Samantha. "Her" won an academy award for best original screenplay back in 2013 and it's easy to see why. So much love both literally and figuratively was put into penning the script for this film which became increasingly evident as the film went on. The relationship between Theodore and Samantha (Phoenix and Johanssen) was not your run of the mill movie relationship with dramatics and whatnot but rather with the high and low rollercoaster ride of a real relationship. "Her" does an incredible job making you feel what Theo and Sam do at every point they reach in their relationship, be it happy, sad, scared or mad and did so without being the slightest bit tonally jarring. Jonze as a writer showed he understands that the truth about romance is about how you and your partner will grow and change together, sometimes closer together and sometimes further apart. All of this takes place in the film along with the unique concept of what dating a constantly evolving and changing computer system would be like and how if conscientious it would feel to them. It all was incredibly sublime and refreshing to see a film that understood more than the basics of both romance and sci-fi successfully dig deep into topics relevant into today's society. Topics such as how we interact with each other, how often we turn to technology and how we process emotions are all featured here and very prominent in the present. Good Lord, I've spent all of this time typing and I haven't even mentioned the performances and they all felt so real to me. Joaquin Phoenix continued to shine as Theodore and when he showcased his range of emotion throughout the film, you felt like you were actually watching a man named Theo in a relationship with a real O.S named Samantha. From Johnny Cash to Joker to Theodore here in "Her" I don't believe there's a single script that Phoenix can't elevate with his performance. Matching him is his counterpart in Scarlett Johanssen who made Samantha seem so human that if it weren't for the lack of a physical body of course, you'd assume she was human too. I've never really enjoyed a performance from Johanssen so much, despite the fact she was great in "Marriage Story", "Under The Skin", "The Jungle Book", etc. Hell even smaller performances like Rooney Mara and Chris Pratt had a lot of depth as these characters had lots of depth to them. The music stood out too, especially "The Moon Song" sung so beautifully in the film that I was legitimately moved to tears. It wasn't alone in being emotionally moving as often the pieces of music that Samantha would compose for Theo whilst simply being together were wonderful as well. The film is set during the not-to-distant future in Los Angeles California and the cinematography is simply lovely. The film pops with vibrant yellow color as Theo and company are outside in the rays of the sun and happy and stalls in dreary gray as the mood dips as well. Inside the various locations colors like pink, blue and white pop out off of futuristic but close to modern interior design to match the mood of the script as well. Jonze understood the directorial task as incredibly well as he did the task of being a writer as this film was technically perfect with smooth graceful editing and pitch perfect pacing. When the film ended, I neither wanted less nor wanted more because the film's story didn't leave out a single detail and was so satisfying, what more can you want really. It's films like this that understand humanity, that challenge viewers by watching something more realistic rather than your typical Hollywood fodder, that do all of the little things like the music, the shots, the pacing and editing in a way that suits the film perfectly and that break the barrier between viewer and screen and allow each scene not just to be a simple series of events shot on camera but rather an experience. An experience that you can grow and change from having and that's the beauty of filmmaking. At it's best, it will give you lessons that will stick with you for a lifetime, discussions to debate with your friends and wonder aloud to yourself and maybe even the drive to express yourself in some artistic way as well. "Her" is definitely one of those experiences that I'm going to carry with me for a long time.