"Her" Movie Review

So with my one day off, I've spent my time trying to enjoy new movies that I haven't seen yet. After disappointments in both Wolf of Wall Street and Noah, I did find some good success in About Time. Now here is my review for "her."

I decided to pick up and watch "her" because it had won best original screenplay and with me wanting to be a writer, I figured it would be a good idea. To my surprise it was completely different than I thought it would be but it was a unique story that in some ways I think our future is headed towards. Joaquin Phoenix playing Theodore is a man recently out of split from his wife and finds a companionship with an OS operating system (voiced by Scarlett Johansson).

With all of our technology advancing and people interacting less it seems like a logical notion even if a bit odd. Joaquin does a great performance bringing a very well written script to life as he is really acting alone in most scenes. Scarlett acts more as voice in his head through a communicator via blue tooth. The pairing and conversations feel real and the reactions that Joaquin does to these interactions make them feel very genuine.

There is good layers to the story with dry humor and some very serious moments interjected into the plot. None of those moments feel out of place because frankly the whole idea feels out of place. I couldn't grasp or figure out how far in the future this takes place but I really hope those aren't the pants that we will wear. Amy Adams and Chris Pratt make appearances in and out of the movie; while they are good characters, there is so much focus on the lead character they don't overly shine.

They don't shine because Joaquin does all the shining. It reminded me much of the unique story of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind; in both movies I could relate to several things in different ways. In the latter I was single and couldn't find love but in "her" with me being single again, I could relate to the character built in the story. I guess the only thing that left me empty overall was the kind of soft and lofty ending that doesn't resolve your hopes for Theodore. This movie scores an A-.