You've Got Mail

Rating: 7/10 (25 December 2019)

Boy meets OS. A digitized love story, far ahead of it's time in what's increasingly looking like our future (for better or worse). Her is an exceptional idea for a film that presents it's thesis in fascinating and inventive ways. Scarlett Johansson's best performance might be this one, as Samantha. An unseen performance, conveying every proper human emotion flawlessly. This should have garnered her a Best Supporting Actress nomination, at the very least. Imagine the challenge of visually articulating a virtual relationship. My hat goes off to Spike Jonze. But what to make of Joaquin? Slowly getting into his element pre-Joker. He's fine, but I wasn't always on board with his personality as the timid Theodore Twomley. He's a flat line of emotion. Always unsure of himself and wishy-washy. We get glimpses of confidence, but throughout, he remains and one-note, uninteresting character. Samantha carries this thing. I know, pulling off this kind of character dynamic is incredibly difficult.