Audio Movie Review

Audio Movie-Review of Spike Jonze’s Her (2013)

 My Script (Un-abridged):

Her is directed and written by Spike Jonze and stars Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams Chris Pratt, and the voice of Scarlett Johansson.

The film envisions a not-so-distant future in which we follow the protagonist, Theodore, played my Phoenix, as he’s struggling to reconcile the despair of falling out of love with the surprising hopefulness of rediscovering a new type of love.

Sulking in his loneliness, one day Theodore decides to buy an OS system that uploads to his computer. It’s a sentient, personalized being—an AI voice that knows every detail of his life—from his emails, to his spending habits, to his daily schedule.

Theodore’s OS is named “Samantha,” and she is constantly evolving—in her sentience, efficiency, self-awareness, and, moreover, her emotional intelligence.

Theodore is a grown man, but has the unassuming air of an uncorrupted child, whisking through life from one existential emotion to the other, as if he’s mindfully discovering it for the first time.

 So, it’s no surprise that Theodore’s patience and open-mindedness with Samantha leads them into a relationship. From then on, the film re-examines love in a way in which hasn’t been done in cinema before.

Her not only explores the seemingly irrevocable seamlessness in which humans and technology become one. This is a constant thematic undertow in the film’s plot and narrative.

The thing that makes Her so fantastic and thought-provoking, is the unfolding complexity and humanity in every single character—even, Samantha. Like the other characters, she is a round character—even though she functions primarily as a voice.

The film is a sci-fi sleeper. Phoenix is at the top of his game and inhabits Theodore’s heart-wrenching plight with ease. We believe he is real. Just like Samantha, whom Johansson breathes to life with the subtlety of her masterful inflections, tones, and vocal honesty.

The film’s tones are altogether charming. It’s a sad, hopeful, honest, silly, funny, movie.

I found myself becoming emotionally invested in all its characters, but especially in Theodore and Samantha as their relationship, and self-understandings, evolves and ultimately transforms them into better lovers.