Never would I have thought that I could get this emotional about Siri's love story. Her is an incredibly beautiful film that perfectly encapsulates modern love with a touch of soft futurism. While I have personally never seen a Spike Jonze film before, I now know that I need to. This movie absolutely engulfs you and takes you on a romantic rollercoaster ride that has never been experienced before. With amazing performances from Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, and Scarlett Johansson and an unforgettable aesthetic, this has easily become my favorite romantic film of all time.
Every single performance in this film is utterly spectacular. For the longest time, I have only joked about this movie because of the sexual scene I had heard of between Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) and his OS, Samantha (Scarlett Johansson). I was quite unaware, however, of how beautifully the movie built up to this shared scene and how it was not ridiculous at all. Joaquin Phoenix is amazing and subtle in his role of Theodore Twombly, the soon-to-be-divorced greeting card writer, and masterfully communicates his newfound love throughout only his expressions and quirky mannerisms. Phoenix was an incredible choice for this role and carries almost the entire film. He has to, as the woman he is falling in love with is simply a personality named Samantha that he installed on his electronics. So many scenes focused on Theodore talking with and developing his love for Samantha and were expressed purely through close shots of his face or minute actions he was performing. This is what made Phoenix's performance so personal was not what he said, but what he didn't have to say. Scarlett Johansson shines as the voice of Samantha too, as I could distinctly imagine her in the room with Theodore in every scene, not just on his phone or computer; truly an incredible vocal performance.
The writing and the story of this film has a fairly generic structure but is enhanced purely because of the near future setting. Theodore falls in love with Samantha, has many expected relationship struggles, and eventually learns more about himself which provides a very satisfactory conclusion. The fact that this film takes place in the near future where every human is attached to the wrist to their phones is not only plausible but almost predictive. A better function that it serves, however, is making the relationships between the various characters that much more interesting. Seeing how Theodore's friends, including Amy (Amy Adams) and Paul (Chris Pratt), reacted to his relationship with Samantha was so real yet so amicable. As his friends, they each served their own purpose very well to further this narrative but also had enough distinguished personality to be their own, well-developed characters. Much of this has to do with Spike Jonze's writing and directing. His friendly approach to his characters and stories serves him very well and makes for a very believable story.
One of the most visually noticeable aspects of Her that I adored the most was its color grading and production design. I can not say that I have ever seen a movie with the tenderness and care that just this film's color palette alone displayed. The creamy and soothing colors not only blended in well together but added to this narrative's storytelling agenda. I felt nothing but relaxed during every scene because of the beautiful aesthetic throughout. All of the different sets accompanied this feeling as well, providing very post-modern and simple design. In Theodore's apartment, Amy's apartment, and even in Theodore's office cubicle, all of the design worked to create this gorgeously smooth and simple version of Los Angeles.
Her is a surprisingly touching love story about a man and his operating system and the futuristic bonds that may be created. Through Theodore's many trials and tribulations, he learns to love again and truly brings the audience along with him. I would absolutely recommend this film for date night with that special someone or if you're a hopeless romantic like me, to watch and appreciate the pure loveliness of every aspect of this movie.
My Rating: ★★★★½
No comments:
Post a Comment