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| Her (2013) |
I'll say off the bat that the premise of this movie is genius. I don't know how original it is, or was, at the time, and I think I've heard a few different versions of this story in a few different things before watching this movie, but this is by far the most intelligent take on this premise I've seen. If I was writing this story, I don't think I could help myself from going off the rails and turning it into some big uprising story about the machines taking over, and while that would have been fine, I'm sure, this is a more grounded story. It approaches this relationship, for the most part, as if it were an actual relationship. They go through the motions, it's up and down, and it's written in a very believable way. The characters talk to each other as if they were actual people in a relationship. I'd go so far as to say that this relationship between a human and an AI is written more believably than the majority of human-human relationships I've seen in a lot of other things. I meant to save this point for the end, but I'm already addressing it now and I can't be f***ed re-editing the review as it is, but it does what a lot of great sci-fi does, which is shine a light on the human condition by getting as far away from it as possible. At the end of the day, this is a story about a couple slowly growing apart, and that's a very relatable story. It just decides to tell that story through the framework of an AI.
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| Amy Adams as Amy |
This leads into the other aspect of the movie, and I'm not sure how correct I am about this, but I feel like the movie is also presenting an allegory for how attached we're becoming to technology in general, which is extremely relevant in the modern era. Putting aside the romance, the world of the movie is in and of itself incredibly dependent on technology, but not so dependent as to make it seem like a world that exists incredibly distant from our own. It feels like a world that could very much come to be in the next decade or so, and that's a balance not a lot of sci-fi can nail. You can see it in the opening scenes, before the AI even comes into it, people on the train, on the street, etc, are silently talking to themselves and their 'phones'. It's a world where people are intrinsically attached to their technology, which becomes even more apparent when you add back in the extra layer of the romance. 'Attached to technology' indeed. The film isn't necessarily saying it's a bad thing, since the romance, for the most part, was a good one, and was extremely beneficial to Theodore. In this way, it does something else good sci-fi does, which is raise a question about our modern world without really answering it. To that end, the audience is left to draw their own conclusions. It's smarter that way. The effect is obvious. The first half of this review has just been me talking about the themes that the movie explores, which is a rarity for my reviews. Normally I just go into 'this looked good, this person acted well, this was awful, the music was nice, etc'. This is a smarter movie. I'd wager it's a movie that just gets better over time. I'm probably going to have a stronger opinion of this movie tomorrow once I've given it time to really sit with me, I can feel it.
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| Joaquin Phoenix as Theodore |
Anyway, getting back to my normal structure, Joaquin Phoenix was excellent in this role. The movie did such a great job of endearing you to him almost immediately, and something else I noticed was how well the movie did of bringing you into his emotional state; a credit to the excellent direction at work. The movie needs you to feel happy; the scenery is beautiful and Theodore is outwardly beaming. The movie needs you to feel on edge; Theodore trips over himself as he's running along the pavement. The movie needs you to feel calm and relaxed; the entire scene is one long shot of Theodore's face as he's lying in bed talking to Samantha completely content. I could go on and on, and here I am once again going into more depth about this stuff than I normally do, but this is honestly the stuff I noticed immediately. I didn't even have to go looking for it; not only is the movie intelligently written, but it's intelligently directed as well. Phoenix, to his credit, delivers basically every line in exactly the right way, and it's just such an interesting character. Someone that can vocalise the feelings and expressions of other people but has trouble doing it for himself? It's a struggle to pull that off without it being creepy, and Phoenix does it expertly.
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| Rooney Mara as Catherine |
Opposite Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson is also wonderful as Samantha. This was another thing the movie needed to get right, as it needed to convey that these OS softwares are more than just, well, software. If they don't feel real and alive, the movie completely fails, and since I've gushed on and on about the movie so far, it's safe to say they get it right. All the little inflections and lilts and character choices from Johansson are perfect and it made Samantha really feel like a living, breathing character, which only enhances the romantic angle the movie's going for and stops it from being so creepy. Amy Adams is also great, as she is in most things. Chris Pratt does his job well as the comic relief, Olivia Wilde was great in her appearance... Guys, at the end of the day, I really can't think of anything I didn't like about this movie. Everything in it worked for the movie's benefit, there was nothing that was out of place. It is a little slow, but I'm glad that it is, since it just gives you more time to engross yourself in the world. I wasn't blown away by the end of it, but I just know that the more I think about this movie the better it's going to get. It's one of those 'thinking man's' movies that I'm sure will just continue to improve on each repeat viewing.
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| Chris Pratt as Paul |
It may not be terribly exciting or suspenseful or action-packed, but Her (2013) is one of the best reflections of humanity I've seen in a film. Normally I end the review by saying something like 'I'm glad I saw it' or 'You should check it out' or 'Don't see it'. So, when I use the kind of language like 'Everyone needs to see this movie at least once', just know how big a deal that is. Everyone needs to see this movie at least once. 10/10.
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