“What drew me to Her was the idea of a relationship with a virtual being. Not necessarily capital R relationship, but just deep friendship. Having a computer system that knows you well enough to be able to anticipate all your needs, and provide you with meaningful (of sorts) social interaction. The trailer shows Theodore setting up his system, and one of the questions asked is if he’s social or antisocial. Knowing that the software had an antisocial setting was enough for me to think that I wanted one of these systems myself. I guess that’s always one of the most fun and hardest parts of watching slightly futuristic films: coveting the technology. Of course this film went deeper than just technology, as Theodore’s relationship with Samantha, his OS was more than just of user and system.
It’s not unusual for a film to cause me to reflect on aspects of my own life. Hell, most of them will have that effect at least in a small part. But this one really stuck with me and had me digging into some fairly weighty themes. Normally I’d share some antecdotal evidence, but I think in this case it is just a little too personal and doesn’t only concern me, so it’s best left off the blogsphere. Not that any of the thinkings were negative. Just made me take a good hard look at some things from a new perspective.
All that said, I’m usually not into films that revolve around romantic relationships, and I feel like if the techno-element were removed, this would not have been something I was interested in. But that side gave a unique element, and it simulatenously made no difference and all the difference in the world. I did feel like there was a point where the film stalled out. Things escalated quickly, had nowhere to go for a while, then ran to an abrupt conclusion. While that did give me time for the aforementioned reflection, it did pull me out of what had otherwise been a very enjoyable movie.
I tend to approach Joaquin Phoenix with skepticism, but he was very sweet and relatable in this film. Your heart breaks for the boy, and feels all his emotions along with him. Just a couple weeks after seeing Amy Adams at her sexiest in American Hustle, we see her at her dowdiest, but I loved it. It gave her an every woman quality that is difficult to obtain for a star of her stature. And Scarlett Johansson’s voice work is incredible. If you weren’t already a believer in how much emotion and intention can be conveyed just thru one’s voice, then this film should convert you. It wasn’t just a couple hours of quick voice over work. She spent entire weekends at a time in the studio working to get everything just right, and her efforts paid off greatly.
Despite the drag later on in the film, I walked out of there feeling like I had a new perspective on my own life. That in itself is enough to declare any film a win.
Her – \m/ \m/ \m/ \n