Probably all three.
But at what point will cell phones and tablets become more than just tools for communicating with friends? Like, let’s say, at what point will they actual become our friends? This is the kind of question Her poses to the world (and the answer is the not-too-distant future). In fact, I wouldn’t be shocked if the movie is re-titled “The Life and Times of Siri: A Remembrance” in about 20 years, when this concept becomes all too real.
Her started making its rounds around festivals and limited-release showings in early 2013, and when I first heard about it, I was immediately intrigued. “This sounds interesting!” I would say to myself, a gleam in my eyes and a skip in my step.
"That looks fucking weird," everyone else would say, fire in their hearts and a sealed metal vault around their minds. This post is about Her and my thoughts specifically on it, but it truly irritates me that someone will completely ignore a potentially eye-opening, exciting and/or emotional experience because of some contrived rationale, like “that looks weird” or “it’s a children’s movie” or “it has Nicolas Cage in it.” I can understand your initial hesitance, but some of my favorite movies are ones that I thought I wouldn’t have any interest in, like The Wicker Man.
Just kidding, that’s a terrible movie, but did I let the fact that it’s weird or that it has Nicolas Cage keep me from seeing it? For a while yes, but the point is that I watched it and it was the best unintentional comedy I’ve ever seen.
So, yes, Her is an unsettling concept because, let’s be real, who wants to date their computer? That’s messed up and sad and pathetic and, oh, wait…
One sec…
Mmhmmm…
Okay, done.
Sorry, I had a new message on Plenty-of-Fish, where was I? Oh, YEAH, we’ll NEVER be that dependent on our technology for things like love, right?
But we already are, and it’s only getting worse; aside from the mind-poking fabrication/realization of our future, Her is, very possibly, my favorite film of 2013 (barring the fact that I haven’t seen as many as I wanted to). Her deftly, creatively infuses comedy and drama together, hand-in-phone, that the film never becomes more of one than the other; Her becomes almost a standard romantic comedy without you even realizing it; Theodore Twombly and Samantha, the main character and his operating system (OS), go through all the motions of a typical budding romance: interested friends, sexual tension, awkward day-after scenario, honeymoon phase, bored-of-eachother era, try-new-things-in-bed-to-shake-things-up mode, etc. They become jealous of each other and you start to realize that this is a real romance and that you want both …”people” to be happy with each other. It’s beautiful tragedy, because you know that Samantha is completely artificial but Theodore is just a lonely man who has finally looked to his last resort and given into it. We can sit here and say “that would never be me, I’d never stoop that low,” and guess who else said that? All of us, 15 years ago, when online dating starting getting big.
So yeah, this is an almost logical step forward in the creepy digital romance spectrum, but it’s handled with such care and meticulously written dialogue. Samantha is never physically present, but she feels tangible. You’re constantly reminded that you can’t touch her, but you want to give her a hug anyway. Her knows how to play to some of the most basic temptations of romance and it makes you evaluate what you consider important in sharing your life with someone else. Sure, looks and personality and humor are all important but at the end of the day, just like long distance relationships, if you can’t actually hold them in your arms, it feels like it means almost nothing.
Such beautiful cinematography and an amazingly gripping musical score, guide you go through all kinds of emotions, usually right along with Theodore. You feel sad, you feel happy, you feel anxious, you feel confused, etc. To me, any film that can make you feel any one of these feelings dominantly rates highly in my book because it’s very difficult to truly evoke such human pathos in an artificial medium, but when a film can successfully tackle multiple ranges of emotion, it’s a particularly outstanding feat. What you see and what you hear harmoniously fuse to bring out your most basic human characteristics, and we’re talking about a movie starring a talking phone. Scarlett Johansson and Joaquin Phoenix are captivating, Johansson being particularly brilliant considering you never see her. The subtleties in her voice are just as convincing as slight facial reactions and, again, she feels wholly real even though you never see her.
Her helps transcend the modern tragicomedy by giving you a “weird” premise and running with it. The film is smartly written, sharply directed, beautifully lit and stunningly scored and for such a simple idea, it makes you wonder about some of life’s most complicated daily ideas (and will possibly be the harbinger for bringing back pastel colors and high-waisted pants).
We’ve all fallen in love and we’ve all had that one specific person that made you crazy, confused, nervous, excited, happy, mad, depressed - human. Perhaps that’s Samantha’s purpose, an artificial catalyst for your emotions. She helps Theodore get in touch with himself and how he controls his real-life relationships by putting him through all of those feelings, and in turn, Her does the same thing. Maybe, before we all lose touch (literally and figuratively) with each other, take a chance and show, don’t tell, that crazy person that you love them and maybe you can be clinically insane together.
Rarely can a movie make me feel what this movie could, especially when it’s about an “artificial” relationship.
The Good:
+ Excellent acting from lead actors
+ A simple idea, masterfully analyzed
+ Perfect blend of comedy and drama
+ Original ideas and themes
+ Amazing, gripping soundtrack and visual set-pieces
The Bad:
- High-waisted pants. Oh God.
10/10
Socially, Acceptably Insane,
Kyle
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