Here we have another one of those films starring Scarlett Johansson without actually showing Scarlett Johansson. Is it any good? Or will The Spongebob Squarepants Movie remain the only decent movie from that particular genre? Stupid joke aside, let's have a look at Spike Jonze's romance-comedy-zeitgeist-drama Her.
It's been some time since we've last seen Spike Jonze around. His debut feature Being John Malkovich, written by Charlie Kaufman, put him on the map as the go-to guy for meta stories that are rooted somewhere along the blurry line between dream and reality. His follow up Adaptation., also written by Kaufman, falls into the same odd category and features the best performance ever of Nicolas Cage (yes, it even beats his Academy Award winning role in Leaving Las Vegas). Then came the weird adaptation of beloved childhood classic Where The Wild Things Are and calling that film controversial would be an understatement. That was 2009. Now it's early 2014 and he's finally back with Her.
Who is her, you're probably asking. Well, that would be Scarlett Johansson in the role of Samantha, a new kind of OS. It's a voice-controlled system that, for all it's worth, pretty much acts like a real person. Joaquin Phoenix plays Theodore Twombly, a recently divorced guy, going from day to day like a drone, saddened by his breakup from Rooney Mara. When he gets Samantha as his new OS, the two of them hit it off instantly and what follows is a sweet and tender romance between a man and a voice.
If you question why I use adjectives like sweet and tender in the above plot summary or if you wonder why I am so accepting of the fact that a living, breathing person has a personal loving relationship with a machine, then that is due to the fact that Her simply gets the cinematic romance right from start to finish. That starts off with the casting. Joaquin Phoenix is dead-on as main character Theodore. His acting has always been a little bit off-kilter, his style always somewhere along the lines of professional awkwardness, his public persona with his weird antics of quitting acting to become a rapper and going through with the hoax for months on end; all of these add up and make him a perfect choice for the slightly outlandish premise of the film. Add to that Scarlett Johansson. She might never appear on screen but her voice does wonders for the role. Her delivery is funny one moment, seductive at the next and neatly switches over to professional. The fact that she has won Best Actress for this particular role at the Rome Film Fest is probably more of an awards stunt than genuine appreciation of her acting but that doesn't diminish the fact that she is never less than impressive.
The script also has some nice touches. For all its technological advancements on display in the ambiguous near-future on screen, Spike Jonze never lets us doubt that we are watching a romance and not a science fiction film. This approach is refreshing as it leaves room for the relationship between Theodore and Samantha to realistically develop, putting characters and plot first before special effects wizardry. However, this is also the movie's biggest flaw. With a premise as timely as Her, it rarely dives into its societal questions and criticism to a satisfying degree. Other than some short dialogue between Theodore and his college friend Amy, played by Amy Adams, everybody is oddly accepting of the fact that people start dating machines and devices. Sure, there are some little winks at our current way of living, such as when Theodore walks along the street and everybody else is either speaking into their little earplugs or staring at their devices, or when Theodore goes on a date with Olivia Wilde and she is impressed by him looking up her profile and already knowing personal things about her. But these bits are simply not explored enough and consistently stay in the background or subtext, teasing the audience (if it's paying attention to it) that there might be more to this Brave New World than just relationships between man and machine.
Does that make Her a bad film? Not at all. Does it take away some of its potential oomph? Definitely. I personally really liked the film as an honest romantic movie that cares about its characters and their problems. Viewed from a more intellectual standpoint I have to say that it unfortunately doesn't dive deep enough into its potentially contentious subject matter. Her is an remarkable movie but also a somewhat missed opportunity.
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