Her (2013) * *

Directed by:  Spike Jonze

Starring:  Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara, Amy Adams, Olivia Wilde, Chris Pratt, (voice of ) Scarlett Johansson

I went into Her with a fully open mind awaiting touching discoveries that could be made when a lonely man falls in love with a voice on a computer.     I suspended my disbelief as much as humanly possible, but soon the fact became inescapable:   The movie is about a guy who falls in love with a voice on a computer.     Sure, she's voiced by Scarlett Johansen, but considering the guy's living, breathing alternatives are Rooney Mara, Amy Adams, or Olivia Wilde, I simply couldn't buy it.

I understand completely that the computer (or Operating System or OS and self-named Samantha) represents the best of all worlds for Theodore (Phoenix).    She knows all of the right things to say and can hold her own in a conversation with Theodore, but since she has no body, no flaws, and isn't real, he can idealize the OS (or Samantha) as the perfect woman.    She, of course, isn't and sex becomes a logistical problem which she hopes to overcome by introducing another woman into the relationship who acts as a sexual surrogate.     Things like this get very confusing.

Essentially, having a relationship with Samantha is like having a relationship with a high-tech phone-sex operator.    Nonetheless, Theodore finds fulfillment in having long nightly conversations with her and taking his OS to a remote cabin in the snowy woods.      None of Theodore's friends seems to think this is odd behavior, especially his boss (Pratt) who invites Samantha and Theodore on a double date.     But because Theodore is so smitten with Samantha, could he ever really function with a woman in the flesh?    His blind date with a sexy friend of a friend (Wilde) goes awry after starting off great.    Does he even see his friend Amy (Adams) as a possible lifemate even though it becomes obvious that she would be a good fit for him?   Does he still have feelings for his soon-to-be ex-wife Katherine (Mara), who knows plenty about Theodore's intimacy issues?

I admired the performances, especially Phoenix', who disappears into the lonely soul that is Theodore.     He's a shy, quiet, nice man who loves, but perhaps doesn't handle it well when things get messy...and human.     Amy Adams has wide-eyed love which is written all over her face.    She is a natural beauty and we just want to hug her.     The same could be said for all of the female leads, or even Samantha, who does sometimes drone on and on.

As ambitious as Her is, it ultimately doesn't work.    We become too aware that Theodore is having existential conversations with his computer and soon enough the thing he bought the OS for in the first place becomes neglected.   (Primarly organization).     Her takes place in a futuristic Los Angeles where emails and other computer activity can be conducted via verbal directions.     What's odd about this future Los Angeles is that only about 600 people live there.     The city looks intact, so it appears no nuclear war or alien invasion happened recently, but why is the city so desolate?   Is that Spike Jonze's way of coming in under budget because he doesn't need to pay extras?   

And consider for one moment the penthouse with a gorgeous view overlooking the city where Theodore lives.     His job is working as a clerk for a company that sends computerized handwritten love letters.    He dictates the prose, it is handwritten on a card, and then emailed.     He sounds like a glorified, high-tech greeting card writer, yet he makes enough to pay the rent in that spacious, gorgeous apartment he lives in?

And I thought a man falling in love with his computer would be the most absurd thing about Her.