MOVIE REVIEW - Her

The new movie Her is certainly thought provoking and interesting, but will it resonate with movie goers?

Her is written and directed by Spike Jones, and has an all star cast, led by Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Olivia Wilde, Rooney Mara and Scarlett Johansson.  It is a science-fiction love story to a degree. In fact, this is a tough movie to categorize.   To its credit, you have never seen a movie like this before.

In the not too distant future, technology has developed and humans have not. In fact, they have retreated as an compelling, thinking species.  Computer operating systems (OS's) have evolved to the point where they can be completely voice activated, no keyboards, and there seems to be no limits to what computers can do.   That is what Theodore (Phoenix) finds out.

Theodore is a lonely, introverted and awkward middle aged man who is in the middle of a divorce from his young wife (Rooney Mara).  He is so desperate for love, he decides to invest in an advanced OS to help him organize his life.  His talking OS friend is Samantha (Johansson).  She is 100 percent interactive with Theo, and she actually learns from him, as they help each other adapt to this new relationship.  But as we learn, Samantha is far more curious than just helping Theo within his computer.  She is wanting to be a real woman, in every regard.

So they develop a romantic relationship in virtually every single way that you can imagine. Only she does of course, not have a body and is virtual.  So in reality, Theo is dating his computer.  And he is not alone.  So is his neighbor Amy (Adams), and seemingly so is half the world.   He has all the same problems that anyone would have in a relationship, whether she is real or not.  Can this possibly be the trend of the future?  That is Her. Of course, it is more complicated that that but that's Her in a nutshell.

There is a whole lot to like about this movie. The performances are stellar. Phoenix is simply great as Theo.  90 percent of his screen time is alone on set talking, and dealing with Samantha and he is terrific.  It is certainly one of the best performances of the year. Johnansson is not on screen for one second of this movie, but her dialogue delivery as the virtual Samantha is about as good as anyone could possibly do.  She is amazing bringing this character to life you never see.   The supporting cast of Adams, Wilde, Mara, and a slew of other voices and small actors are great.

This is really interesting movie making that makes you think, and creates a world you have never seen, and one that might not be that far off.   As technology keeps advancing, human interaction skills keep deteriorating.   This to me portrays 35 year old's of the future that are about 10 years old today. It paints a real thought-provoking look at how will they grow up in a world that is more and more dominated by computers and technology.  It advances, we don't.

Being fair, this is rated a well deserved R, and is not going to be for everyone. There could be a certain "creepy" factor for some.  This also makes loud and clear social commentary on where we are now as a society.   And how far we could possibly not advance as a result of technology and just how dependent we may become on computers and how less dependent we are becoming on each other.  It dares to ask where will love be in 25 years too. And this also shows just how numb that generations could possibly be to the lack of human interaction in the presence of gadgets.

This is highly creative and wrapped up with a slick script and wonderful performances. Its has a ton of Golden Globe nominations, and could be a real player.  This is a touchy subject at times, and a daring look at the future that doesn't rely on the end of the world scenario that many big action flicks do, but rather end of the meaningful world scenarios which may be more unpleasant and far more possible.

Her.  Every frame good!