Joaquin Phoenix is probably one of the most versatile stars in Hollywood. Insane and renegade in ‘Joker’, singing in ‘Walk The Line’, tyrannical in the role of Emperor Commodus in ‘Gladiator’ and of course most recently as the power-obsessed ‘Napoleon’. But in ‘Her’ he impressively shows that he can do things differently: Here he shows his soft, wistful and vulnerable side as Theodore, and it is no less worth seeing.
You should watch Spike Jonze’s film (“Being John Malkovich”, “Adaptation”) not only because of him, but especially because of Scarlett Johansson – precisely because of her voice. What the “Black Widow“- And “Lucy‘ that the actress delivers here in her disembodied performance is simply remarkable. She should have rightly received the Golden Globe at the time if the nomination had not been rejected in advance because she does not appear once in the film. You can stream ‘Her’ – preferably in the original! – currently on Netflix.
AI against loneliness
Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix) makes his money as a ghostwriter for letters from strangers who cannot express their emotions themselves. But he is not happy either: since he divorced his wife Catherine (Rooney Mara), he feels lonely and spends his evenings alone playing computer games. He does something about it by purchasing a newly developed operating system equipped with artificial intelligence.
“Samantha” (Scarlett Johansson) now accompanies him every step of the way: she informs him about new emails, makes restaurant reservations and also proves to be an extremely charming and quick conversationalist. Impressed by her view of the world, Theodore gradually begins to develop feelings for the system…
What was still a thing of the future ten years ago when ‘Her’ hit the cinemas, is now more relevant than ever: As ChatGPT gets smarter, AI apps now also offer the opportunity for virtual friendships or even partnerships.
Of course, the subject is not new in science fiction films – already in Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey”, A science fiction classic par excellence, the supercomputer HAL 9000, which is also equipped with artificial intelligence, comes into conflict with itself – causing a number of problems and dangers for the human crew of Discovery.
Man in his inadequacy
What lies behind the treatment of the subject is of course the fear of the people themselves: The fear of creating something that leaves him behind. In fact, the threat of a system that ‘learns to learn’ seems more real than ever, at least for writers and creatives. In the case of ‘Her’, the system learns something completely different: namely how it should feel.
Theodore is thus thrown back on the most human thing: his feelings, while his ex-wife accuses him of not having access to them. So it is not without some irony that Samantha is a machine not only refers people to their feelings, but also sometimes appears more human in their feelings than the person themselves.
The big honor obviously goes to Scarlett Johansson, who manages to fill a disembodied personality with her voice alone. In the interaction between Johansson and Phoenix, who spends the entire film playing against the invisible with a button in his ear, Something tangible is created and not least a love film that is absolutely unique of its kind.
On the Blu-ray of “Her”* you’ll also find some exciting features in the bonus material: “Love in the Modern Age” features interviews with some authors commenting on love in connection with IT and in “The untitled Rick Howard Project” you get fragmented behind-the-scenes insights on Spins.