Her, a comedy-drama written, directed and produced by Spike Jonze, feels both futuristic and current. It is at the same time depressing and inspiring, original yet familiar.
Staring a terrific as always Joaquin Phoenix, and a support cast that includes Amy Adams, Rooney Mara, Olivia Wilde and Scarlett Johansson, whose seductive voice gives this film its title, Her covers topics such as examination of human relationships, and our growing love affair with our computers and mobile devices. It also hints at the current state of human mental evolution, which includes our still limited capacity to fully love.
While winning universal critical acclaim, Her falls short in its ability to fully engage the audience. It is highly intriguing, thought-provoking, and, occasionally, funny; yet I suspect it would have made a better novel than a film. Though written for the screen, the story does not lend itself well to visuals due to its talkative nature. Very little action takes place as the plot involves mostly an operating system's dialogue with the film's protagonist. The result is that at 125 minutes, Her feels like it will never end, a fact that put to sleep at least one snoreful member of the audience in the theater where I watched the movie.
With that said, Her is still one of the better films of this past year.