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.