Her (2013)

User Review

• 

  BarneyNuttall

  8 / 10

  Her follows Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix), a middle aged man, living in the near future, who is going through a divorce. His loneliness is only exacerbated by his job, in which he writes letters to loved ones as a ghost writer. He's very good at it but every dear so and so creates a bigger lonely void inside him. Until an advanced new AI is released. One which has emotions, learns and grows as an identity. Theodore and his AI, Samantha (Scarlett Johansson), begin to grow together, leading to a heartwarming and genuine romance which will capture the hearts of any audience.
  
  Her is so brilliantly detailed. The story itself is fairly run of the mill; man falls in love with AI. Yet, Spike Jonze moulds a beautiful pastel future which not only look visually captivating but also captures the essence of Theodore's loneliness. At one moment the pastel blue of a wall may seem cute and colourful. The next, it's sombre and faded.
  
  This is just evidence of Jonze's recognition of loneliness. There is no melodrama. Nor are there montages of crying in the rain. Loneliness becomes this wave of emotion which comes in and out of Theodore's life. As the tide is out Theodore relishes memories with Samantha, laughing and smiling through serene cityscapes. But then the tide comes rushing back in. And the familiar feeling of loss fills every pore on his body. It's well known that Her is a companion piece to Sofia Coppola's Lost In Translation since the two went through a break up themselves. This, while not suggesting that the film is about that breakup in question, evidences that we are seeing Jonze's point of view of life at that time. A time when colours shone through now and again but loss and letting go was a constant struggle.

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