In "Her" a guy named Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) falls in love with OS1, his operating system (voiced by Scarlett Johanssen). To be fair to him, it is a very advanced system, the setup for which involves answering questions like "How are you feeling?" and "Describe your relationship with your mother".
"Sam" (OS1 names itself) is intuitive, funny and caring, and she appears to share Theodore's feelings. So before long the two are going on dates and having fun together.
Look. I know. I was dubious too. But I found that I really liked this film. While you could look at the film as a satire on how quickly and how completely we've become dependent upon technology for our relationships, I liked it for the questions it asks about regular people stuff. Like, "what does it really mean to love" and "how can you ever be sure of what the other person feels"*.
The film seems to be saying that love is actually just moments of sharing. Like the time you both got drunk and danced around the kitchen to "Sympathy for the Devil" or when you both thought it was really funny that Ed Milliband looks and sounds like a potato, or just recollecting the place you went and did that thing that time. You don't even still need to be with that person to feel that love, it will always be with you even in times of loneliness. Thinking about this made me feel better and Films As Therapy are fine with me.
So I loved it, and overlooked the fact that while Joaquin was appropriately cast as an Everyman they managed to set him up with a "dowdy" neighbour in Amy Adams. Don't get me wrong, I like Amy and she does her best to dress down by not wearing makeup and having adorably ruffled hair. But still. IT IS AMY ADAMS. It is like popping to ScotMid to find that the checkout woman has been replaced by Jessica Alba, or your Aunt Molly's Bingo mates are now all played by Beyonce.
"Her" is not for everyone. It's a Woody-Allen-ish inward-looking film about people who are often depressed, plus the humour in it is mildly twisted (I actually laughed out loud at the "choke me with the dead cat" scene which shows how effed-up I am). But if you liked "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and "The Truman Show" you'll find yourself mentally filing this film alongside them.
* By reading their secret journal and having them FOLLOWED, if you didn't know.
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