Spike Jonze was already one of the most ambitious directors in Hollywood – “Being John Malkovich,” “Adaptation.” and “Where the Wild Things Are” intuitively surpass the boundaries of film inventiveness. “Her,” Jonze’s first solo-written feature, takes those same boundaries and whimsically destroys them.
A piece of romantic articulation and thoughtfulness for the ages of the future, “Her” takes to mind everything that a film of the current generation should by combing its way through the possibilities of technology, human interaction, hedonism and even fashion in expressively comedic form. Its ultimate theme is that of love and heartbreak, though Jonze supports “Her” with enough layers to create a futuristic wonderland that hits eerily close to the present.
Jonze’s world is a clearly distinguishable future with technological advancements characteristic to science fiction, but not so much that it seems even remotely unbelievable. Joaquin Phoenix is placed in the lead role of the everyman character, Theodore Twombly, a newly single introvert who works an intriguingly expressive job creating “handwritten” postcards on the computer.
A new computer operating system is released that utilizes artificial intelligence to talk, learn and convey feelings in a human-like manner as it evolves to its user. The machine that Theodore purchases, which names itself Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson), quickly assists him with menial tasks such as organizing his email and reminding him of events. Samantha acts as a close friend to Theodore, and they spend so much time together that they both begin to question their relationship with one another and become willing to experiment further.
“Her” revolves around its characters’ relationships: Theodore is still finalizing the divorce with his ex-wife (Rooney Mara) when he meets Samantha, going to Samantha as a retreat from the fantasies that he is still enveloped in from his previous sweetheart; Theodore’s closest friend Amy (Amy Adams) is going through her own troubles with her overbearing husband (Matt Letscher). Everyone in the film doubts the validity of what they want out of their significant others, be it from a point of happiness or metaphysicality.
It’s this careful orbit around the amusing but believable that allows “Her” to place its arguments in such a passionate setting. Theodore’s intimacy with his operating system is an outlandish concept, but not as outlandish as a portal that enters John Malkovich’s head – Jonze has perfected the ability to portray his ideas on camera, letting the actors play along to his theatrics with a consuming ease, Phoenix as the ringmaster of Jonze’s delicately produced performance.
What brings “Her” into the frame of significant fables of our time is the outright brilliance of the ideas that Jonze has in store. The disembodied voice of Johansson, who famously replaced Samantha Morton in post-production, places a vividly warm tenderness in Theodore’s head without letting himself, or the viewer, put a physical picture to the words. Hilarious scenes of Samantha’s attempts to woo and impress Theodore are affectionate sentiments of a woman trying to hold on to what gives value to her life as well as a child trying to learn the ins and outs of the world for the first time.
There are profundities in “Her” that can only hold while accompanied with the absurdities that lay within Theodore’s world. His ability to ask his earpiece about its day and have it respond to him in a knowing, understanding manner is comical but not far-fetched. In the minimalistic Los Angeles that Theodore inhabits, where high-waisted orange pants are in style and video games are holographic and interactive, the realities and truths that hold true today are stretched to their perceivable limits. Still, they remain fondly intact as Theodore goes through his farcical daily routine.
“Her” is a transcendent piece of film that exquisitely cross-examines the big picture of human life and progress while remaining in the frame of understanding and universal accessibility. Each new development is mind-bending, the soul of its dramatic plot is mesmerizing and the conclusions it comes to are wholly satisfying. Jonze has never been a stranger to acclaimed originality, but “Her” powerfully serves as the most gently thought-provoking work of one of today’s wisest craftsmen.