Her

In many ways I feel like Her was made just for me. I know that is an absurd notion but the characters and themes were just too intimate and personal that I couldn’t help but feel that way. The connection that Theodore has to Samantha in the movie is eerily similar. The operating system is data that is universal to all who purchased it yet each person was able to build a strong, intimate relationship with their OS that felt so unique and personal yet the programming was universal. I feel that a film’s ability to make the audience feel that personal connection is what separates a great movie from the rest. Her is a great movie and resonates with me more than any other film I’ve seen in a while.

The premise of Her could have easily also been an Saturday Night Live sketch gone bad. A man, sad and alone, falls in love with his self-aware operating system and their relationship is able to develop like any human to human relationship would. It would be easy to make Theodore the butt of some bad joke, like he’s so alone and desperate that he’s resorted to loving his computer, but Her is handled with so much care and sincerity, with Spike Jonze’s directing and writing and the great acting by the cast, that we end up relating with Theodore so strongly and investing in his relationship with his OS Samantha. The characters and setting are so fleshed out and three dimensional that even with a crazy premise set in the near future everything that happens in the film seems incredibly authentic.

Joaquin Phoenix plays Theodore absolutely perfect. A woman Theodore is on a date with describes him as a puppy dog and that fits him perfectly. He’s complicated, depressed, struggling being alone, all he wants is to be loved, to be relevant in someone else’s life. Many scenes are shot close up to Theodore’s face and he seems so sweet and broken, it’s impossible to no want to love him like a puppy. Scarlett Johansson plays the disembodied OS Samantha and using just her voice is able to make Samantha seem real and actually tangible. It never for one second feels like Samantha is anything but real. The conversations between Theodore and Samantha feel like interactions that any normal couple would have with each other. They have the ups and downs any other relationship would have and it’s so important that the audience sees this dynamic to fully understand why they care about each other. Their relationship feels more real than most movie relationships, and even some actual relationships.

This film is extremely beautiful and for me it was impossible not to fall in love with it. Her is a gorgeous film to experience. It’s so beautifully shot and put together. I loved all the modern production design and building. The soundtrack is incredibly touching and fits the tone of the film perfectly. There’s nothing to not love about this movie. It’s the most inspiring, touching movie I’ve seen about love and companionship. With all the complexities of life a film like this is not only welcome but essential.

American Hustle

I wanted to love American Hustle, in fact, I expected that it would be love at first viewing. From the praise I’d heard from friends and read online I was certain that I would love it. There are so many things about American Hustle that are right in my wheel house. David O. Russell is a director that I admire and I have thoroughly enjoyed all of his films. The cast is impeccable, even the really small roles (Louis C.K.!!!). Seventies music, clothing, and hair, all things I love. Despite all of these positive attributes, American Hustle did not meet my expectations at all.

That isn'to say that American Hustle isn’t a good movie or isn’t worth seeing. It’s good for all the reasons you’d expect (good director/writer, great cast, etc.) but it hasn’t had any real lasting effect on me. I feel so indifferent towards the film. I have no real desire to revisit or analyze it. I got what I needed from it from one viewing and that’s fine.

There has been a lot of comparisons between American Hustle and Wolf of Wall Street, both delve into the different criminal sides of conning people out of money. Having seen Wolf first, maybe I was expected something more in that spirit. American Hustle is much more deliberate than the Wolf of Wall Street. It stays with the characters for long, intimate scenes to help build the relationship the audience has with them. Russell himself has said that he’s more about characters than he is about story and it’s very apparent here. These characters are very interesting but their lives are positively boring compared to the drug fueled debauchery on display in The Wolf of Wall Street. Maybe that’s more of what I expected, something flashier and bigger.

It’s strange that I would want something big or flashy. I usually go for films that are smaller, more intimate, and more real. What if I had seen American Hustle before I saw Wolf of Wall Street? Would I have found it as slow? Would I have wanted more flash? Would I have like Wolf less because less was going on? I can 

never know.

Even thinking about the films side by side now there are many things that I like about American Hustle more than Wolf of Wall Street. I thought the overall story was better especially how everything came together in the end. Usually movies that end cleanly feel very contrived but American Hustle’s ending avoids feeling false by being well written and acted. There is more of a story arc and better character arcs than Wolf of Wall Street which is more like a bunch of events shown one right after the other.

In my head I know I should like American Hustle more but it didn’t touch me like the movies I love have affected me. American Hustle didn’t affect me at all. It’s a perfectly adequate film and gives you what you want while watching but doesn’t leave the lasting mark you’d expect.