Subtle and Sci-fi: Her touches your heart

Subtle and Sci-fi: Her touches your heart

By Jay Martinez
Contributing Writer

Her is Spike Jonze’s latest film. Jonze both wrote the script and directed the film. It stars Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson, Amy Adams, and Rooney Mara. It opened wide in theaters on January 10, 2014. 

The film starts with a close up on the face of Phoenix’s character, Theodore. There is hardly a frame in the film without Theodore in it. Phoenix does an admirable job throughout the film emoting with only his face. The quiet muted Theodore starts to thaw as he develops a relationship with his newly acquired operating system, Samantha. Scarlett Johansson provides the voice for Samantha. Although she is never seen, Johansson manages to accomplish so much with just her voice. It should also be noted that during the creation of the film Johansson and Phoenix never interacted and yet their relationship feels natural and believable. Samantha becomes a fully fleshed out character that can be easily empathized with.  Their relationship turns into a sweet, touching, and memorable reflection on many different kinds of relationships. The supporting cast is strong and helps flesh out the film. Chris Pratt has a small role as Theodore’s boss, but he manages to be funny every time his character is on screen.

Spike Jonze’s direction creates a near future that feels very close to our own. Simple fashion choices distinguish the film. A few inches added to the inseam of men’s pants adds a noticeable and unique change to the wardrobe. The technology is subtle, plausible, and could have easily come from a concept video. Her is a beautiful film. The craft involved is obvious. Every shot feels deliberate and composed with a purpose in mind. Visual metaphors are scattered throughout the film. My favorite was a shot of melting icicles when a relationship was starting to grow cold. 

Having recently won the Golden Globe for original screenplay, Her stands out amongst its peers in the two very different genres the film manages to blend. Subtle and sci-fi are not often used in the same sentence. A romantic relationship where one side is never shown is not the norm. A romantic relationship between a human being and an artificial intelligence is a major story hurdle to overcome, but Jonze manages to make it more human than most on screen romances.

Her is modern, touching, and thoughtful. The film speaks to the human desire to connect with someone or even something. Not everyone will have the same reaction, but everyone will feel something  by the end of the film. Spike Jonze’s Her is beautiful sci-fi romance with a human core.