Her Review

An out-of-nowhere sci-fi masterpiece.
Film review by Isaac Handelman

Beginning with its mono-syllabic title, Her is deceptively simple in a multitude of ways. Spike Jonze’s techno-romance places socially awkward protagonist Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix) front-and-center, and he’s the only (visible) onscreen character for a sufficient portion of the film’s duration; furthermore, the film positions itself as a romance, a genre known for tripping over its own cliches. Despite these considerable hurdles, Her’s stunning ingenuity and brilliant execution render it an unforgettable cinematic masterwork.

Centering on Theodore Twombly, Her aims at first to tell a tender, emotional tale about modern humanity’s relationship with technology. Twombly acquires and subsequently “befriends” his new artificially intelligent operating system, which names itself “Samantha,” and is voiced by Scarlett Johansson. Writer/director Spike Jonze marries his terrific screenplay with Joaquin Phoenix’s captivating performance to allow audiences to get to know the protagonist to an astounding extent. Twombly is much more than a socially awkward introvert; he’s the polar opposite of a cliche, with his mannerisms all at once quirky and perfectly unified with his behaviors. He feels real, like a person who has lived long before Her’s onscreen events.

Though Phoenix commands the screen, Scarlett Johansson’s voicework as Samantha often dominates on an auditory level. The actress delivers a career standout performance despite being physically absent from the film. Samantha’s conversations with Theo sound incredibly organic and natural, with Phoenix and Johansson displaying remarkable conversational chemistry.

Being such a dialogue-based film, Her is reliant on the merit of its screenplay to an even greater extent than most films. Luckily, Spike Jonze’s script is excellent. It’s usually quiet and contemplative, much like its main protagonist, but bounces effortlessly between laugh-out-loud comedic material, heart-wrenching character drama, and thought-provoking statements about human nature that come out of nowhere and manage to leave profound impressions. A multitude of intelligent parallels are drawn, both to real-life scenarios and past events from the film, as well as subtle, biting satires that I found myself sometimes picking up on minutes after they transpired on-screen.

A film so unrelentingly focused on dialogue runs the risk of becoming dull, no matter how intelligent said dialogue may be. Her smartly sidesteps this challenge by offering up audiences visual and auditory beauty. The film is wonderfully shot; the futuristic Los Angeles depicted, shot in present-day Shanghai, provides Jonze with no shortage of impressive skyline shots to show off, and the film continually utilizes color (notable is rosy red) to compose interesting shots. The subtle futurism is depicted brilliantly. Citizens mull around, muttering voice commands to their mobile devices; enormous LED screens display high-resolution advertisements; speed trains zoom by smooth and silently. The film positions itself as just alien enough to be deemed science-fiction, but just familiar enough to be haunting and indicative of technological advancements that are just beyond modern day’s horizon  -- in a word, Her’s world is believable.

Accompanying the visual sparkle is a dazzling, minimalist score by Arcade Fire. The usually booming, symphonic rock band’s tracks rarely exceed glittering background tones, but they perfectly fit with the soft wonderment that the film offers up, and highlight Her’s revelatory moments with grace and beauty.

By Her’s close, Spike Jonze has done so much more than one would initially have expected the filmmaker to do. The film’s narrative speaks with sharp intelligence to the growing dependency of humans to the technology that surrounds them. But Her also has important things to say about human relationships with one another. Despite its oftentimes melancholy tone, Her is ultimately unsettling but uplifting. Its messages are all-encompassing but also achingly personal, and will probably appeal to each of its viewers in slightly different ways. Regardless, Her is sure to mean something to anyone who watches it, whether it brings clarity to an uncertainty or simply reinforces the idea that we are not alone in the insanity of life.

Looking back on my viewing experience, I would, without a moment of hesitation, watch Her again this moment if given the chance to further absorb its wryly amusing, profoundly intelligent wisdom. It manages to do and say so very much with so few characters and elements. I have published seventy-seven film reviews on my blog over the course of almost three years, and not until now have I given a film a perfect score. Her undoubtedly earns a five-star rating. It’s one of the smartest, most original films I have seen in a long time. A true masterpiece.