Spike Jonez does not make run of the mill movies – he likes to explore new territories, or take old ones into new dimensions. her is no exception, taking the romantic drama and the exploration of artificial intelligence and bringing them together to form something new.
Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix) writes letters for people who just don’t have the ability to put their feelings into words. His work reflects the name of the company he works for – beautifulhandwrittenletters.com. What is unexpected here is that there are dozens of other letter writers, making us understand that – despite his talent – Theodore is pretty much a cubicle drone.
What’s even worse, for him, his wife Catherine (Rooney Mara) has left – and he’s been avoiding signing the divorce papers. When he sees an ad for a new operating system that is an artificial intelligence, he decides to try it – and meets Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson).
Samantha is feisty, exuberant, curious, intuitive and perceptive. She and Theodore develop a very real chemistry. Even allowing for a really twisted late night chat session with ‘Sexy Kitten’ (Kristen Wiig), and a blind date with a woman played by Olivia Wilde, it’s clear that Theodore is a sweet, melancholy fellow who comes to life as he and Samantha get to know each other. It doesn’t really come as a surprise when he falls in love with her. The surprise is that she has evolved enough in so short a time to fall in love with him.
Outside of a bit of hero worship from the receptionist at work, Paul (Chris Pratt, nailing it) and the ongoing support of his best friend, Amy (Amy Adams) – who works for a game developer but wants to make documentary films – Samantha becomes his whole life. She even seems to understand how he and Catherine could have grown apart – though she still gets jealous when Theodore wants to sign their divorce papers with her, in person.
Jonez wrote the screenplay and he cleverly examines life in all its diversity from two points of view – the real, live person in Theodore, and an artificial intelligence for whom everything and every emotion is brand new. The thought that someone could fall in love with an artificial intelligence isn’t new, nor is the thought that an artificial intelligence could love. What is new is the exploration of how that relationship might happen; how it might develop; how it might not even seem that odd.
At the same time, Jonez explores the way people grow apart; how they can be friends without falling in love, and whether a human/A.I. relationship could mirror the many forms of human/human relationships. Amy for example, acquires an OS1, but they seem to be buddies more than anything else – and the NPC in the videogame Theodore is playing gets pissed when he starts spending more time with Samantha.
Because of its inspired casting, her never hits a false step, and Jonez develops it with a gently inexorable pace that allows it to makes its revelations in its own time. Phoenix gives a gentle, slightly melancholy performance that certainly reminded me of broken relationships in my past – and the joy of finding myself in another one, and both Adams and Wilde do some of their best work here.
But it’s Johansson who gives the best performance of her career as Samantha. It’s telling that, while watching her – and buying into the Theodore/Samantha relationship – I never once pictured Samantha as Johansson. That, folks, is a performance. It’s totally unfair that she is ineligible for an Academy Award nomination – absolutely wrong.
Though not the fastest-paced movie, when her reaches its entirely appropriate conclusion it doesn’t feel like two hours and six minutes have gone by – it’s that immersive an experience. Going to the Big Drink Scale, I had almost a third of my drink left when the movie ended. Enough said.
Final Grade: A+
Photos courtesy of Warner Brothers