A superbly poignant and honest exploration of love, of life, of desire and of science.

Rating: 9/10 (30 January 2014)

Spike Jonze and Joaquin Phoenix team up to give the Hollywood one of its most honest and cliché-free stories of love in years. That they've both been able to do this in the overriding guise of a tale based within the realms of the science fiction genre, is testament to the nuance, intrigue and engaging delight they both bring to their central roles.
The beauty of the film is its ability to deeply engage and connect on an intimate level with its viewers, despite the concept being inherently cold, distant and drenched amid the deeply insular. It is, therefore, to the credit of the content, the voice acting of Johansson, Jonze's always effervescent and irreverent direction and the central performance of Phoenix that we, the viewers, get so deeply entwined in, what essentially, is the starry eyed equivalent to an anecdote documenting months in the life of a basement-dwelling catfish disciple.
As a love story, it provides the kind of perspective Hollywood had seemingly long since lost; almost completely devoid of cinematic cliché and full of natural verve and a very real look at the connection made on a level beyond the physicality of body and the physicality of carefully constructed monologues. The falling of Phoenix for Johansson is subtle, but feels so entirely natural that by the midpoint of the film - even without being the lonely soul Phoenix is - you can absolutely believe and totally accept why, not only this guy, but you yourself, have fallen for all that Johansson portrays as an outlet of desire.
The overriding message that love cannot be defined lineally, that two people who connect initially can grow apart due to different rates of evolution among the pairing and that love is a constantly evolving concept that operates beyond the reams of stagnation is a theme that resonates immensely due to just how superbly well it's driven home and represented within the boundaries the film sets - of which there aren't many, much like the concept of love itself. Love has no definition other than the definition we create for ourselves on an individual level and to expect everyone to fall in-line with that definition - even those we make our partners - is to expect the impossible. The film brilliantly tackles this throughout.
As a science fiction piece, it garners itself an even greater standing, exploring themes of the physical and the metaphysical spheres, way beyond what's generally comprehensible within the scope of humanity. That the film manages this through subtext, without compromising the driving, surface level pretext of love, is a victory the likes of which may only really be properly appreciated in the years to come.
Just a beautifully pitched film, that delights, despairs and challenges in equal measures and a film that should be watched by anyone who considers themselves a fan of cinema, a scholar of film and a supporter of the exploration of far reaching ideas and screenplay writing that dares to dare.
Yet another great addition to Jonze's small, but thus far brilliant, feature length catalogue and one of the most satisfying cinematic experience I've had in years. Loved it.