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Monday, July 6, 2015

Divide by Zero

Film: Her
Format: DVD from DeKalb Public Library on laptop.

Her scared me a little bit. It scared me because this is a movie I’m very much supposed to like. There’s a great deal of pressure on the film in a situation like this, and pressure on me. What if this highly-acclaimed film that should be right in the wheelhouse of my sensibilities turns out to be complete crap? If I’m one of the only people who turns out to dislike a movie with this much acclaim, I run the risk of being “that guy” who just hated the movie because he wanted to be different from all of the other reviewers. I was very much interested in the film, but it also sat on my shelf for long enough that I had to renew it from the library. There’s that nervousness, almost like the nervousness of a new relationship with a film like this one.

I also figure that I’m probably the last one of my regular readers to see Her, which makes the plot summary far less important than it normally would be. I’ll try to keep this short and basic. Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix) is perhaps the world’s loneliest man. His marriage to Catherine (Rooney Mara) is at an end, although he is hesitating on signing the papers to finalize it. His job is writing heartfelt letters for people unwilling or unable to write their own letters. Unable to verbalize his own emotional state, Theodore merely seems to exist, devoid of human contact and experiencing the world entirely through his electronic devices.

Things change when Theodore purchases a new operating system for his computer. The OS names herself Samantha (Scarlett Johansson). Samantha is vibrant, interesting, and curious about the world. Theodore finds himself fascinated with her, and the two start to figure each other out. And since this is a Spike Jonze film, Theodore soon becomes fascinated and infatuated with her and soon begins to fall in love with her.

It can’t just be that simple, of course, and the third act of the film loses me some because it feels unnecessary and not really like it matters to the point of the film. The movie takes a very strange turn in the last half hour to 45 minutes. This involves Samantha finding a sexual surrogate to essentially be her body in the relationship—she talks, and the body acts with Theodore. And then there’s a whole revelation of Samantha’s involvement with a group of other OSes that simply feels off the point.

The two main performances here are Phoenix and Johansson, of course, and both are excellent. Phoenix is required to carry most of the movie himself physically; he is frequently alone on camera. It’s just him, and he needs to be compelling and frequently is. Similarly, while Phoenix is the physical manifestation of the film, it is Johansson’s voice that similarly needs to carry the film for us; she is in many ways the most compelling character for us to interact with. On paper, it really doesn’t seem like it should work, and yet it all does.

There’s a solid, albeit short performance from Rooney Mara here as Theodore’s ex-wife. I also liked Amy Adams in this. She plays Theodore’s friend Amy, an old girlfriend who has remained a friend, and who separates from her husband mid-way through the film. Amy goes through her own relationship crisis and also bonds with an OS, which allows her a great deal of perspective on Theodore’s situation with Samantha.

Her is the sort of science fiction movie that takes place five minutes in the future, and it works because of that. There’s just enough future her to make it a touch unbelievable but with enough reality to make it work. This is not something that would work set in the past because of the necessary technology. Set two hundred years in the future, Her would lose a great deal of the human connection that a film like this requires.

The basic theme of Her is not difficult to spot; it’s evident in the first couple of minutes of seeing Theodore’s life and lonely existence. The real question is what it means. There are probably as many ways to interpret Her as there are people who have seen it. From my perspective, the film is one of connection and disconnection in the modern world. Theodore, at the start of the film, is disconnected from the people around him. He is able to interact with the world only through devices. Ultimately, it’s a device that causes him to reconnect to the world. There’s a moral there, of course, and it’s one better experienced than explained.

Her is a film that perhaps cannot be explained in words but can only be understood on an emotional level. Like all of the best science fiction, Her explores the question of humanity and what it means to be human. I was probably right to be worried about it; the best stories are the ones that challenge us, and Her is a challenge in the best way possible.

Why to watch Her: Scarlett Johansson makes the best case for Best Vocal Performance as an Oscar category in film history.
Why not to watch: I can imagine a lot of people with moral qualms about the romance aspect.

11 comments:

  1. "I also figure that I’m probably the last one of my regular readers to see Her"

    I still haven't seen it, for whatever that's worth.

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    1. You should see it. As with all good science fiction, there are deep philosophical issues embedded in the story.

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  2. I really liked this film. Joaquin Phoenix is great, portrays heartbreak well; I could almost see Scarlett Johansson's face as I listened to her voice.
    I agree with you about the setting: it looks so recognisable, yet there is something a touch futuristic.

    The only issue I had was watching the film at a Film Club with a mostly older audience; the sex scenes were awkward to say the least. Add to that the house lights kept coming on at times, which was rather distracting. But it is a testament to the film that I was able to still enjoy it.

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    1. The sex sequences are awkward. I think that's intentional, or at least I'm not sure how they could be otherwise.

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  3. I loved this movie. I actually thought it could have won best picture. For me, the film got better and better as it progressed. Phoenix is a favorite of mine and I truly believe Johansson should have gotten a nomination. Glad you enjoyed it as well.

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    1. I've seen all but one nomination from 2012 Best Picture now. I won't say what my winner is (I'll get there eventually), but Her would be far from on the bottom.

      I could argue Johansson for a nomination. I think she earned it.

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  4. I liked this one a lot. I didn't have any issues with the third act. This was my #3 movie of 2013. I agree it rests with Phoenix onscreen and Johannson offscreen. She did win a Best Actress award at an Italian film festival. What impresses me even more is that she wasn't the original voice. She was brought in to redo all the lines after they felt the original actress' delivery wasn't working as well as they wanted.

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    1. I just saw your 4.5 star rating on Letterboxd and realized that I had received the wrong impression from your review here - not that you had disliked it, but that you hadn't liked it that much.

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    2. The third act, particulary the last 15 minutes or so, is what kept this from 5 stars for me. I get why Jonze took the story the direction he did, but it felt like a cobble to me.

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  5. The scenery actually does look quite familiar, at least to me. Much of the outdoor footage is from Pudong in Shanghai, which is a truly futuristique place.
    It does seem like the movie spin out of control is the last part, but it does not change that is the kind of relevant science fiction there is far too little of out there.

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    1. I agree that we need more of this. We're going to have real questions about what makes us human and how we define sentience in the near future, and films like this one are what is going to start and continue that conversation.

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