February 14, 2014.
Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlette Johansson, Amy Adams, Rooney Mara.
Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlette Johansson, Amy Adams, Rooney Mara.
Director: Spike Jonze.
A futuristic society where
technology is at a level which cannot be imagined as of now with gadgets
performing almost everything, a human being should be doing physically, just by
voice command. That is where the story of Her is set.
Theodore (Joaquin) is a
lonely to be divorced guy who leads a life without any excitement or fun. He is
yet to let go of his wife (Rooney Mara), mentally and is very much in need of
love. That is when a new operating system OS1 is launched which is based on
Artificial Intelligence. It is evolved to such an extent that it is actually a human
being without a physical body.
As expected Theo wants the
OS1 to have a female voice and the OS names herself Samantha (voiced by
Scarlette Johansson), and from there begins a different but genuine love story.
The way Theo falls for Samantha has been written and directed so well that very
soon you forget that Samantha is just an OS and not a human being. The first
time Theo and Samantha have sex, yeah you read it right they DO have sex!!, is
one of the best scenes in the film with magical music playing in the
background. You realise the genius of Spike Jonze with just that scene alone in
the way he has shot it never allowing it to be vulgar even for nano second,
what you experience is pure love!!
The conversations that Theo
and Sam have might remind you of the Before Midnight Series but then Her is at
an altogether different level especially because of the brilliant writing by
Spike Jonze. He so effortlessly manages to portray the relationship just like a
normal relationship that two humans could have.
Though it is basically a
love story there is a lot of humor in the film, many of which come at the most
unexpected time that increases the level of laughter you have. The kid like
thing from the videogame and the Mommy game are two such really creative and
funny scenes.
Her is a bit of a wonderful
paradox in the sense that it shows that love is the basis of all that is, and
yet it is not really possible for a human to have a real relationship with an
OS. Top notch direction ensures that this so very delicate of a plot finds an
even better depiction on screen, leading the film to an inevitable yet
beautiful climax that will linger on even after you have left the theatre.
The screenplay is a bit
slow in the middle but it may be argued that it was something deliberate on the
part of Jonze to allow some time for introspection and contemplation for the
audience, may be as an aid for a better perspective!
Her is a total package
scoring full marks in all the departments mainly direction, writing,
cinematography, editing and music. But what stands out is the terrific acting by
Joaquin and an even better one from Scarlett; if there was an Oscar award for
lending your voice to a character it would surely go to Scarlette. She has
taken Samantha beyond compare and this would surely be one of her most
cherished roles, if I could say so.
I
am giving a 4 for Her. Go fall in love!
Rating Scale (Out
of 5)
Less than 2
-
Unwatchable.
2 to 2.25
-
Below average.
2.5 to 2.75
-
Average.
3 to
3.25
-
Good.
3.5 to
3.75 -
Really Good.
4 to
4.25
-
Great.
4.5 and
above
- Extraordinary.
