her review

Today movie is a romantic comedy movie which  is a genre that i rarely touch since I am not very bright when it came to emotional relationship. I also tend to be too serious to be funny and all the women that i knew always said that i'm the most unromantic sentient being who ever walks/crawls/swim/fly on earth. So right from the bat, i don't like most romantic movie but it doesn't meant that i am allergic to that genre. Some romantic movies do quite entertain me like 500 Days of Summer which i found to be a quite profound romance movie. This time, the movie that is surprisingly blew my mind is a romantic movie called Her.

Her is set in 2025. An appropriately nerdy named Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix) is a lonely, introverted man who writes personal love letters for people with difficulties expressing their feelings. Unhappy because of his impending divorce from childhood sweetheart Catherine (Rooney Mara), Theodore purchases a talking operating system with artificial intelligence, designed to adapt and evolve. He decides he wants the OS to have a female identity, and she (Scarlett Johansson) names herself "Samantha". Theodore is fascinated by her ability to learn and grow psychologically. They bond over their discussions about love and life, during which Theodore explains he is avoiding signing his divorce papers, because of his reluctance to let go of Catherine.

Theodore is convinced by Samantha to go on a blind date with an acquaintance (Olivia Wilde) who his longtime friend, Amy (Amy Adams), has been trying to set him up with. To his surprise, he and the woman hit it off. As they are kissing, the woman asks if Theodore is willing to commit to her, and when he hesitates, she leaves. Theodore mentions this to Samantha and they talk about relationships. Theodore explains that although he and Amy dated briefly in college, they are only good friends and that Amy is married. Theodore and Samantha's intimacy grows. They develop a relationship, which reflects positively in Theodore's writing. The relationship soon turn into a love relationship and the rest of the movie is  mostly about the drama between Samantha and Theodore as they walk through their unlikely relationship.

It's basically Sal9000 the movie

As you may read, the movie's is about a love relationship between a man and an AI (or OS as this movie refer to) which, lets be honest, some of you might found it as a taboo or unsettling . This is not the first time that a movie is used to explore such a theme about synthetic relationship (ex: Blade runner) but i found Her to be quite unique on its own merit. I expected some black and white moral message with this kind of movie since it is really easy for it to just go with the direction that say "Theodore was wrong because he is an introverted freak who fell in love with a computer" or "it is ok to fall in love with anything because whatever done in the name of love is always right" but the movie went beyond right or wrong. It present us, the viewer, a gray line in that kind of relationship and trust us to make our own judgement which is always a good thing for me. It is a sign that the movie maker respect us as a intellectual being with their own intellectual perspective.

The settings really helps you to believe in the relationship between Theodore and Samantha because how peoples react to that relationship differs for each person in that world. Some peoples were actually quite accepting with it and the others might not be so. The world of Her also feels quite believable in a way like what our future might be and it seriously feels like a legit sci-fi world. The technology used in the movie doesn't involve something like laser pistol, neon-glowing-everything or Jar-jar Bing. The world take the route of realistic Sci-fi like the way Looper did but in a more bright way. It is also beautifully shot and kinda feels artsy at some scene. There is also some scene in the movie which makes fun of video games culture which, as a gamer, actually managed to cracked me out.

The way the movie present it's characters also add to the overall great experience. Theodore may be an introvert but he is a really likeable introvert that people kinda admire and love despite the creepy looking porn stache that latch in his face. It's not that he fell in love with a computer because he cant socialize or unable to find a woman to date, its because he just doesn't want to. Some reviewer said that Theodore isn't actually fell in love with Samantha, but with himself since Samantha is programmed to follow and adapt to its owner preferences and it might be true at first glance but we have to look into Samantha to see why i don't see it like that. The way Samantha grow as an AI genuinely surprised me. She (yeah, i used she because she really feels like a genuine woman in the movie) evolve into something than just an AI that programmed to please and she even start to do something that i didn't predict at all. I wont tell how she surprised me but when it happens, my jaws kinda dropped in the floor.

Joaquin Phoenix as Theodore really is the star of this movie. Most of this movie scenes is just him talking with an AI who didn't even have a face, which in paper, sounds like super boring stuff but somehow he managed to make me invested every time he is on screen. He really brings a believable performance that makes you care in every line he said. Scarlet Johansson, on the other side, literally only had a voice yet she absolutely doing a fantastic job on being a fun, smart and helpful AI. The chemistry between Theodore and Samantha is spot on right from the get go because they do feel like a couple in love despite the fact that, well, its a love story between a man and a software. The great dialogue and writing also helps them to become funny, romantic and a joy to watch, The rest of the cast like Amy Adam as Theodore ex-girlfriend also do a fantastic job Theodore Ex-girlfriend who are still close to him.

I really-really like Her just for its unique and simplistic premise but how the movie execute it really made it become something special. It is beautifully shot and directed, the performance of the actors is fantastic, the writing is smart and witty, and i also have to mention how great the score is by Arcade Fire. Some people might not like Her because its premise is actually quite strange for some viewer and the movie might be a lil bit too focused in Theodore which could be an issue for someone who wishes for a bigger story but all that gripes is nothing because Her is one experience that you have to see for yourself.

Initial El Score

9.0

Its for Sal9000!