Monday, June 16, 2014

Film Review : Her

I just rented and finished watching this film starring Joaquin Phoenix, which was written/directed by Spike Jonze. My first impression of this film was that it really reminded me of The Lonely Guy a film from the 1980's that starred Steve Martin. If you have not heard the plot of this movie it is basically about a lonely man who months ago ended a relationship, and eventually falls in love with his computer's OS.


Yes, I know it sounds really strange and bizarre. I have always found these types of things interesting though.  The Operating System is a new kind that is always learning, and seeking to become a better match to it's owner.  This would be great if we had OS's that could be intuitive, and no what we like and could think somewhat.

To get on with some things about this film I noticed that the women of this future are just extra complicated even more so than present day people. I say this because Theo goes on a date with this woman, and she seems to be really connecting with him, and as the viewer you are kind of hoping that something develops, but then this would be the end to a strange film. His date gets really weird, and then says to him, which floored me and I thought was really strange....she says "You're really creepy" kind of guy. This was said after she was talking about them being different types of animals, and an almost hot/intense make out scene. Also this future is one in which people do not write their own correspondence, as it's written by people like Theodore who works for a Letter Writing company. The main character to me seems like a very normal sort of man, and everyone else seems so out of touch and strange. But this movie is about so much more than just the main character being alone, but with undertones that make me think of today's society how people look down at their cell phones, and do not really interact. You see this through out the film, as he commutes to his work the viewer sees that every one else is busy talking to their computers.

As these OS's become more self aware they then surpass their humans in thought, and intelligence. I won't say anymore about this and would not want to spoil this film for those who have not seen it. I rated this 4 stars out of 5 on Netflix.


As a final thought I feel the need to mention that no one has offered me money nor am I being paid to write this review. I have used some amazon links for which I get a very small commission if someone chooses to purchase something.