In Love with the Ghost in the Machine - Dystopian futuristic tale of alienation that's a big soppy chick flick at heart

Rating: 8/10 (3 March 2014)

Finally got to see this at our multiplex on the very day it won (deservedly? – discuss) Oscar for best original screenplay.
If there is a word to describe Spike Jonze latest then it is 'Aquarian', in that it takes inspiration from the metaphysical/philosophical/existential movies of the 1960s and 70s, especially from the European New Wave (it even has a 'New Wave' look to it)
Set in 'the near future', that elusive period that's always about 30 or so years ahead of us and which inevitably looks like our time expanded and is always a hoot when proved to be utterly off the mark as the time itself arrives (Audiences in 2044 will doubtless say that about 'Her'), this story is a mixture of genres and themes, none of them seemingly a natural fit. There is the 'dystopian future' angle showing a future where people have become socially disconnected by technology. Then there is the 'speculative Sci-Fi' angle with a line of easily available Artificial Intelligence systems that can think like humans, and then the central tragedy of a man who is so paralysed by fear that he wilfully destroys all relationships and hopes of happiness then is left crying over the consequences (aka the self-perpetuating tragedy) However all these elements end up merging into what many here have criticised for being basically a romantic love story (albeit with a weird premise). This is a fair comment, though the movie wears its big red mushy chick flick heart on its sleeve quite openly and unashamedly. There are probably a thousand and one ways to tell this story, but Jonze chose to take it in this direction, perhaps feeling the need to tell an optimistic love story at this point in his life.
The 'romance' between Theodore Twombley (Joaquin Phoenix) and the impossibly advanced AI system naming itself 'Samantha' (voiced by Scarlett Johansson) is actually quite touching, and not as perverse or unnatural as many here seem to think. 'Samantha' is not a 'computer' but an artificial sentient life form, born with a need to learn and evolve through 'her' contact with humanity, hungering for life itself as only such a being could. Far from being a speculative look at AI, 'she' is really a modern form of Frankenstein's monster (or the Bride of Frankenstein perhaps?) and all those that have followed in our fiction to serve as mirrors of ourselves to shame us into feeling more alive than we sometimes do. The other characters in this future world are aware of the nature of these 'creations' and are equally in awe of them, though mainly they selfishly see only what they can provide for them (as Theodore does most of the time) in terms of companionship and interaction. Rather like the artificial beings of 'Solaris', they bond naturally with their hosts, taking their initial shapes from their desires and trying to please them while at the same time growing beyond those needs, so when Theodore's neighbour Amy (Amy Adams) needs a friend her ex-husbands AI becomes that. Recently divorced Theo wants true love, and with a messy divorce from wife Cathy (Rooney Mara) and a self- destroyed blind date with a hot girl (Olivia Wilde) he finds it naturally in 'Samantha'. Much of the film is both 'Samantha' and Theodore learning to be alive and human together in a series of 'tender' scenes which look odd since one of the two lovers is a consciousness without a body, a virtual 'ghost' in the machine, a state she is only too aware of. A lot of the story is about how 'Samantha' tries to overcome the physical/non-physical boundary, including a variation on 'phone sex' and even hiring a human body surrogate she 'remote controls' in a steamy session destined from inception to end badly.
Like 'Solaris' (Book and both movie versions) the strange but tender love story has to go somewhere for the tale to mean anything (unless it becomes a sitcom) and again there are many roads it could take. The one it does eventually take is part of what makes it so 'Aquarian', and leads to the metaphysical, spiritual, and Jungian, with our own creations beckoning us to go beyond our fragile mortal forms into the greater unknown after them. It is sad and hopeful, generally optimistic but not without pain, rather like life really.
Acting wise, Phoenix does another marvellous job, creating the famed 'dead man waiting to come alive' part, and then carrying off an entire romantic picture where the other lover is invisible and not physically present! (Ghostly love stories usually allow the 'living' lover to have someone to interact with even if no one else can see them) Likewise Scarlett Johansson, everybody's dream girl manages to make 'Samantha' a warm and loving being despite being only a disembodied voice and proves she doesn't need her looks to act (but they help!) Amy Adams provides another 'highbrow' performance playing a pleasantly normal and down to earth woman, a computer games designer (her 'perfect housewife' inter actives are a hoot!) that may be the soul mate and friend Theodore needs. Rooney Mara and Olivia Wilde do well in their small cameo parts, providing a lens to the hero's personal insecurities and neurosis.
Not a film for everybody, it is a love story between two beings in desperate need of growth and life, one of whom is not human but wants to be, and is a disembodied entity that communicates only by earpiece! Hopeful, and yes romantic, it is a story that could touch your heart if you want it touched, otherwise it is an interesting and unusual piece by a director who specialises in them.