Review Score: 4.5/5
“Her” stars Joaquin Phoenix as a professional writer of love letters who has recently gone through a pretty nasty divorce. Things change when he forms an unlikely relationship with a newly purchased operating system that’s programmed with an artificial intelligence meant to cater to his needs.
Potentially creepy premise aside, the first thing that I really have to say about this film is that it features some of the most realistic dialogue I have heard in a while. I’ve gone on record saying how I’ve never been in a romantic relationship, but even I could tell that the dialogue that we hear and the emotions we see felt real, like it actually came from real life unlike many of the other romance films I’ve seen.
Speaking of the emotions, I also have to give some real props to Phoenix, who does a really good job playing the role of the sensitive everyman. He also managed to have a good sense of comedic timing with some of the weirder moments of the film, particularly at the beginning.
Scarlett Johansson also gets some props for her voice work as Samantha, the operating system.
Johansson conveys the tone and emotions behind her dialogue in ways that many of us don’t really notice in everyday speech. Even though it was a post-production dub, she turned in a really good performance.
The only thing I can knock this film for is the ending. Without giving too much away, it’s one of those endings that I had a hard time wrapping my head around because of the elements that were left unexplained. While it could be argued that it helps us empathize with the characters because they are also left in the dark, it could’ve been handled a little bit better.
Overall, this was an incredible film. We take an emotional journey with our main characters as we see a very realistic looking relationship develop and grow. It is also a good piece of speculative fiction as it addresses the impacts such technology might have on a society, as well as the kind of society it might take for such technology to come about. Even down to some of the minor details, “Her” boasts a great deal of visual and narrative depth. If you’re looking for a film that provides a realistic exploration of romance, I highly recommend this one.
“Her” gets a 4.5/5.
