- When I had to pick a genre by which to categorize Spike Jonze's Her on my website, I ran into one small problem: Just what the hell was this film trying to be? Certainly the sci-fi, romance, and comedy descriptors all apply, but I'm starting to think that drama may be the best bet. No, now I'm back to sci-fi. Obviously, Her is not the first film I've watched to span multiple genres, but it is the first to take such a strong stance against being pigeonholed. Upon reflection, that may be a symptom of how poorly I connected with the film.
- The setup sounds like something from an episode of The Outer Limits (or Black Mirror, for those who insist on modern references). A lonely man named Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) installs the latest artificially intelligent operating system (voiced by Scarlett Johansson) and rapidly falls in love with it. Prior to the big upgrade, Theodore's life revolved exclusively around work, video games, and phone sex. I'm not even sure which of those activities was creepiest, given that his job involves writing syrupy "Beautiful Handwritten Letters" for customers, his favorite video game stars a profane alien toddler, and the phone sex...well, the term "dead cat" comes up more than you'd expect. Now that I see them written down, those unexpected, off-putting details were actually my favorite part of the film.
- The real thrust of Her, however, focuses on how Theodore interacts with other people, both real and artificial. He isn't ready to let go of his ex-wife Catherine (Rooney Mara), despite the fact that they have been separated for some time. His blind date (Olivia Wilde) seems interested, but he can't give her even a modicum of commitment. At least Theodore has genuine friends in Amy (Amy Adams) and Paul (Chris Pratt), who remain surprisingly open-minded about his new love interest, Samantha. Sure, Samantha is a sultry-voiced computer operating system, but that doesn't mean the two of them can't find incredibly awkward ways to be intimate, my favorite of which involves a surrogate (Portia Doubleday), a fake mole, and an earbud. At this point, I must note that Scarlett Johansson's voicework in this film is absolutely indispensable. Between this film and Under the Skin, she has proven herself incredibly adept at portraying inhuman characters, which I really do intend as a compliment.
- So why did Her leave me feeling, to borrow a phrase that applies to both romance and computers, so turned off? For one, I've never been especially interested in seeing films about disintegrating relationships between self-absorbed people. If I wanted to learn more about that particular subject, I could drop the sci-fi requirement and watch either Bergman's Scenes From a Marriage or any of the million real-life examples that occur every day. (Fortunately, I'm not the one handing out Oscars for Best Original Screenplay.) Jonze and cinematographer Hoyte Van Hoytema successfully capture the banal lipstick shade-coloring of tech office buildings while also demonstrating an annoying fascination with bright, diffuse lights. The soundtrack, by members of Arcade Fire, falls surprisingly on the pulseless side of indie rock. I asked Siri what she thought of the film, and she said "I think, therefore I am, but let's not put Descartes before the horse." I never imagined the technological singularity would arrive in the form of a boring bad joke.
- Also featuring Matt Letscher and the voices of Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader, Spike Jonze, and Brian Cox.
