HER (10 out of 10) Written and directed by Spike Jonze; starring Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Rooney Mara, Chris Pratt and the voice of Scarlett Johansson; rated R (language, sexual content and brief graphic nudity); in general release; running time: 126 minutes.
By Jeff Michael Vice
If you’ve ever said that you love your cellular telephone device before … Or if you’ve ever said that you love your laptop (or personal) computer before … Or if you’ve ever said that you love your video game system before … Or even if you’ve ever said that you love someone with whom you’ve been having an online relationship before, “Her”is the movie for you.
Well, the science-fiction/romantic comedy-drama is also for anyone who appreciates smart, thought-provoking and adventurous filmmaking — as well as those who have experienced the pain of traumatic personal relationships. (And who hasn’t, really?)
Distributor Warner Bros. has been (smartly) advertising the film, which launched in New York, Los Angeles and other major markets in December, as a presumptive Oscars-consideration campaign, as “A Spike Jonze Love Story.” And that really should tell you everything to know about it, especially if you’re acquainted with the works of oddball filmmaker and occasional “Jackass” collaborator Jonze (“Adaptation.”, “Being John Malkovich,” “Where the Wild Things Are”).
Well, that statement does leave out one other, very important fact: This film, in particular, has more heart and poignancy than anything that Jonze has done so far.
This time, he is working from one his own scripts, rather than those penned by either Charlie Kaufman or novelist Dave Eggers (his previous collaborators on those aforementioned movies). “Her” follows a lonely professional letter writer, Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix), who’s having trouble moving on from his last relationship.
Things between Theodore and his college sweetheart, Catherine (Rooney Mara, “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”), soured and now she’s asking for a divorce. But he’s clinging onto their better past, and is refusing to sign the papers. That is, until he “meets” his new, interactive operating system, which has taken the name Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson).
Programmers have created OSes like Samantha to react intuitively to their users’ needs, and to “learn” and “mature” in response to their working relationship. However, Samantha proves to be more than just an OS to Theodore, suddenly finds himself spending all of his time with her — talking for hours on end and actually returning to having a “social life,” albeit a very unconventional one.
His friends and co-workers (including one played by a very welcome Chris Pratt) have very different reactions to Theodore’s announcements about his newfound “love,” which leads to further complications with the divorce proceedings.
Yes, it’s a truly odd premise, but the film scores points with its observations about the perils of “traditional” relationships, as well as the ones about our technological dependence. It’s a uniquely thoughtful and moving experience, and it’s perhaps Jonze’s best work to date.
And admittedly, it’s easy to get caught up in the film’s peculiarities and a few of Jonze, art director Austin Gorg and production designer K.K. Barrett’s stylistic quirks (most of the characters in this near-future tale are very hipsterish in their behavior and looks, and it has a score by Canadian hipsters The Arcade Fire).
Fortunately, his cast helps ground things when they get really out there. That’s particularly true of the back-on-his-game Phoenix, who’s fresh off a similarly strong performance in 2011’s “The Master,” and who really sells this far-fetched story. As Theodore, he’s a bit of a kook, but not to the point that he’s creepy or completely unrelatable.
Elsewhere, Phoenix’s “Master” co-star brings some added, live-action performance depth in support as a long-time friend of Theodore who’s also going through some similar experiences. (Refreshingly, their relationship story arc doesn’t go where you may be expecting … spoiler alert!)
And, getting back to live-action performances, if that’s what the Academy Awards voters are going to reward each year, they may need to create a new acting category that’s strictly for voice performers like Johansson. As Samantha, she’s equal parts sexiness, shyness, naïveté and wry charm, which isn’t easy with this kind of role.
(One other bit of interesting trivia: Johansson was actually Jonze’s second choice for the film’s trickiest part, the title role. British actress Samantha Morton, of “Minority Report” fame, was originally cast and voiced the “virtual” character through most of the production, before being replaced shortly before its completion. But you’d never guess, as Johansson and Phoenix have a vocal compatibility and a unique chemistry that should have proved impossible, given the circumstances.)
Jeff Michael Vice, aka Jerk-bot, can be heard reviewing films, television programs, comics, books, music and other things as part of The Geek Show Podcast (www.thegeekshowpodcast.com), as well as be seen reviewing films as part of Xfinity’s Big Movie Mouth-Off (www.facebook.com/BigMovieMouthOff).