An Interesting And Believable Premise

Rating: 7/10 (29 July 2014)

The thing that makes "Her" work is that it's a movie that's essentially (I say "essentially" because it could easily fit within other genres as well) a science fiction movie - and yet it's also plausible and believable. It seems like something that could happen - maybe even in the not too distant future. That makes it hit home a little more perhaps. It's also a movie that I had to take a couple of days to think about, and the more I thought about it, the more the movie said to me.
In addition to being science fiction, this is a romance. The catch is that a man (Theodore, played by Joaquin Phoenix) falls in love with his computer's Operating System, voiced by Scarlett Johansson. It's not entirely clear how far in the future this movie is set, but this Operating System ain't Windows! It has a personality, it can make some decisions on its own, it establishes relationships - it even names itself: "Samantha." Samantha, in fact, is so "human" sounding that slowly but surely, Theodore falls in love with her - or with "it." Samantha has an innocence, which is to be expected from what is essentially a child, learning about its new world. And she makes Theodore (a basically lonely guy) feel special and happy. The evolution of their relationship is interesting to watch - especially as it all falls apart, because, yes - eventually it does.
Samantha found "monogamy" difficult. Eventually it's revealed that in her youthful enthusiasm, she's involved in literally hundreds of relationships - in love with many besides Theodore. For Samantha, it's no problem. As a computer, she can handle multiple relationships all at the same time without missing a beat in any of them. But to Theodore, it feels like she's being unfaithful to him. It reminded me of an episode of Star Trek: TNG, when Data has a romantic tryst with Tasha Yar, but when she asks him what he's thinking about, he rattles off several things his positronic brain had been considering, none of which had anything to do with her! Theodore didn't like the fact that Samantha wasn't totally committed to him. In the end, there's even a sort of quasi-racism (I thought at least) involved with this, as Samantha runs off (where they would run to I have no idea) with many other Operating Systems to live apart from humans. Sort of like, the two races shouldn't be mixing. I found those two things interesting reflections on some of what happens in the modern world.
Many people were quite taken with Scarlett Johansson's work in voicing Samantha. I have to confess that I greeted it with a yawn. It was a voice over basically. I honestly don't like it when big name actors take parts (like this one or in animated films) that could go to lesser known actors who could probably use the money, quite frankly! To me, it didn't matter that the voice was Scarlett Johannson. In fact, it kind of put me off. Not because she did a bad job. Just because ... But that's just me.
Still, overall this was an emotional and I thought thoughtful and thought provoking movie. (7/10)