Her, Interrupted

Rating: 10/10 (11 January 2014)

I want, want, WANT this technology now!
In the meantime, I'll settle for the incredible movie, Her.
What started off to me sounding like an unoriginal idea – man falls for inanimate object – was quickly squashed. This brilliant adaptation of real life, but mainly where it's headed, was anything but imitative. And, we're just talking about the premise here; there is so much more to Her than meets the eyeor ear.
While I am not a huge Joaquin Phoenix fan, he gives one of his deepest performances, despite that awful mustache. (I wondered how that terrible trend came back in the future, and when I asked myself that, all I could hear is Doc Brown's puzzled voice asking about men's facial hair in the future.) He plays a depressed man so well in this, you'd won't be able to distinguish Joaquin from his counterpart, Theodore.
Teddy pulls a Total Recall and due to an ad he sees during his public transportation route, he acquires an A.I., or as they call it here, an O.S. (1) and develops a deep relationship with the O.S. and rightfully so. It's spoken by the sexy voice of the sexy Scarlett Johansson. Of course, all relationships are rocky from time to time, but the ideas presented here and the direction of this mismatched pair is simply wondrous.
As was this film as a whole. The score, soundtrack, cinematography and mood were all excellent. I loved how it was shot, breathed and directed. The characters, namely Teddy and OS, Samantha, were so deep, I couldn't take my eyes (or ears) off them and see what they'd do (or say) next.
While not a mainstream film, it is a refreshing view on the love story and where we're headedand should be headed by the film's end.
I would completely recommend Her.
* * * Final thoughts: Yeah, yeah, I pray frequently for the day of the holodeck, but in the interim, this would work. At very least, to tide us over, bring on the sequel more geared towards me: Him. (They can even be clever with the title: Him, Too.)