Review of Her (2013) by Thomas Q — 26 May 2015

This is as much about "a guy who dates his phone" as The Dark Knight is about "a guy who runs around dressed as a bat". I find it maddeningly disappointing that so many people dismissed this one on the premise alone, and must implore anyone who's in that camp to stop pretending like things that are silly on paper can't make for quality cinema.

The "phone" here is akin to the artificial intelligence of HAL-9000, if his ambitions were instead to connect with the human race and to define himself existentially before moving beyond the confines of the physical world. These musings, of course, are made endlessly watchable by Scarlett Johansson's seamless voice work.

Joaquin Phoenix isn't some creepy perv with a pedo-stache (something the movie itself painfully draws attention to when he DOES try to connect with people), but a realistically awkward person who struggles with the kind of social deficiency that I find all too familiar.

Put the two together, along with a great script, heartfelt supporting roles, inspired production design and soulful cinematography, and you get what might be the most poignant statement on our technologically-linked culture since The Social Network. Spike Jonze's world is decidedly planted in realism instead of dystopian spectacle, and raises unnerving questions on our existence without being void of humor and compassion.

Give this movie a freaking chance. Even if you don't find it as remotely incredible as I did, you'll at least walk away with something worth chewing on.