Her (2013) [Blu-ray]
Drama | Romance | Sci-Fi

Academy Award winner for Best Original Screenplay! Directed by Spike Jonze and starring Joaquin Phoenix comes an original love story that explores the evolving nature and risks of intimacy in the modern world.

Storyline: Theodore is a lonely man in the final stages of his divorce. When he's not working as a letter writer, his down time is spent playing video games and occasionally hanging out with friends. He decides to purchase the new OS1, which is advertised as the world's first artificially intelligent operating system, "It's not just an operating system, it's a consciousness," the ad states. Theodore quickly finds himself drawn in with Samantha, the voice behind his OS1. As they start spending time together they grow closer and closer and eventually find themselves in love. Having fallen in love with his OS, Theodore finds himself dealing with feelings of both great joy and doubt. As an OS, Samantha has powerful intelligence that she uses to help Theodore in ways others hadn't, but how does she help him deal with his inner conflict of being in love with an OS? Written by Bob Philpot

Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Kenneth Brown on May 13, 2014 -- For a film that so deftly and frequently defies expectation, Her remains a heartaching, sweetly subdued work of pure science fiction that slowly but steadily distances itself from the trappings of its premise in favor of a richer, more thoughtful examination of love, loneliness, sentience and technological codependency. Nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, dark horse Spike Jonze's beautifully crafted, convention-skewing drama earned the Being John Malkovich filmmaker a much-deserved Oscar for Best Original Screenplay yet was largely overshadowed by a lineup of splashier, more traditionally compelling frontrunners. There's nothing splashy or traditional about Her, though. An abstract, quasi-futuristic dual character study isn't the stuff of blockbusters or red carpet darlings, much less a film subject to the lowest common genre denominator. Jonze revels in subtlety and minimalism to incredibly affecting ends, forging a timely, all-too-convincing near-future within a story entrenched in human yearning and soulful longing. It's not only one of the best films of 2013, it's one of the finest pieces of science fiction to come along in years.

Set in Los Angeles, slightly in the future, the film follows Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix), a reserved, inwardly compounded man who makes his living writing touching, personal letters for other people. Heartbroken after the end of a long relationship, he becomes intrigued with a new, advanced operating system, which promises to be an intuitive entity in its own right, individual to each user. Upon initiating it, he is delighted to meet "Samantha" (voiced by Scarlett Johansson), a bright, female OS who is insightful, sensitive and funny. As her needs and desires grow in tandem with his own, their friendship deepens into an eventual love for each other.

Phoenix and Johansson deliver nothing short of screen magic, infusing a sense of deep, budding love into the aptly billed "Spike Jonze Love Story." No small feat considering Johansson has little more to work with than her voice. Her Samantha may not have a physical form, but her presence is so palpable and real that she all but materializes on screen; a trick of the mind that stands as a testament to just how convincing her OS is to both Theodore and the audience. But Her isn't just Samantha's show, much as she steals it. Every one of Theodore's relationships is utterly captivating; each one a perfect mix of screenwriting excellence and performance prowess. Enormous credit is due Phoenix, of course, who so grounds his lovelorn writer in humble, introverted eccentricity that it's next to impossible to wish him anything but happiness. But his co-stars are terrific. His deteriorating marriage to Rooney Mara's Catherine is heart-wrenching in its at-times brutal frankness and unflinching honesty, and Mara is outstanding in her very limited screentime. Jonze never assigns blame or dabbles in convention, yet never shies away from the pain of their devastating divorce. Amy Adams, meanwhile, plays Theodore's neighbor and confidant with such modest, soft-spoken ease that her insecurity and uncertainty resonates as poignantly as Samantha's becoming.

More interesting perhaps is the structure of the film. Where other filmmakers would roll credits, Jonze chooses to press on and test the limits of Theodore's newfound love. Conflict and complications mount as Samantha's needs grow beyond the bounds of human relationships, and Jonze's question -- What does love look like in the modern world? -- is rephrased and repurposed again and again. The answers he offers, though, offer insight rather than explanation. Theodore isn't able to predict or quantify love any more than Samantha is able to anticipate or encompass it. Even her love is a question mark. Does it spring from complex programming? A machine's delusion? Theodore's desires and needs brought to life by a series of algorithms? Or is it true sentience? Is Samantha a product of nature or nurture, or something else entirely? Is Theodore beholden to chemical impulses, personality pitfalls and circumstances beyond his comprehension? Is he falling in love with Samantha? Or does she merely represent a safety net he isn't guaranteed elsewhere? Is he in control of his own emotions? Or a victim of state of the art technology? Is anyone in control? Or are we all products of programming? These are the questions Jonze explores, and explores with such fascinating simplicity; confounding, unsolvable mysteries he doesn't attempt to address with anything other than truth, nebulous though it may be. And like all great cinema, Her rings profoundly true. Can a filmmaker, cast or Best Picture nominee be given any higher praise?

Her brings with it a flood of seemingly disparate emotions: joy, grief, elation, sadness, celebration and mourning. And yet it delivers an experience so startlingly honest, moving and relevant that declaring it a masterpiece wouldn't be hyperbolic in the least. Phoenix, Adams and Johansson are magnificent, capturing the most poignant beats of human relationships with a deceptive effortlessness that's disarming and endearing. Then there's Jonze's script and direction, which match his cast's brilliance with an ease, power and command of the screen all his own. Together with Hoytema's cinematography and Arcade Fire's score, it's a stunning achievement in romantic minimalism and exceedingly refined genre nuance. And Warner's Blu-ray release doesn't disappoint. With a near-perfect AV presentation, Her stands proudly alongside other 2013 Best Picture nominees as a must-have Blu-ray release.

[CSW] -4.3- This is not some fluffy Tom Hanks rom-com flick! The themes explored in this film involve the most fundamental aspects of being "conscious" beings, including love and relationships and emotions, sure, and this is very well done in its own right, but then it takes off into the nature of language, information, meaning, communication, understanding, mortality, reality - everything that makes life and thought and consciousness what it is. It also takes on our social media semi-detachment from direct human contact and intimacy contrasted with the Sci-Fi aspect of evolving artificial intelligence. At its heart is the question of how we relate to our technology, how we relate to each other, how our technology relates to us, how our technology relates to itself and what is happening as all of those things are evolving onto something new.
[V5.0-A4.5] MPEG-4 AVC - No D-Box.


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