Her Review

Spike Jonze can best be described as a curious individual with a very curious back catalogue that includes the weirdly brilliant Being John Malkovich and his not so much for children kids film Where the wild things are, so naturally his next film Her would see him follow the story of a man in love with his computer. Set in the not too distant future, the film follows Theodore Twombly (very Spike Jonze character name), an endearing character who forms a relationship with his computer operating system Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson). The films interesting premise is more than just a whimsical idea and it really has legs, it raises really interesting questions and like Theodore I almost completely forget that Samantha isn’t a person, because in the world of the Her she sort of is. It is brilliantly acted, great supporting roles but Joaquin Phoenix manages to make Theodore a likeable character despite his many faults. The films greatest strength is its visualisation of LA in the future, everything is subtle yet very effective, the technology isn’t anything that we don’t have now, but its everywhere and with a retro feel. Its problems lie in the tone, when its in the exciting stages of Theodore and Samantha’s relationship forming its brilliant, when it gets to the latter stages it teeters on boredom, but perhaps that’s the intended effect in order to represent the relationship. (Low 4 Stars)