Hello Write Readers,
Next up on our list of Academy Award Best Picture nominees – Her. Boy am I glad that I didn’t give up on Joaquin Phoenix. When you combine a not crazy Joaquin Phoenix and the voice of Scarlett Johansson, and add a very large and bushy mustache (not on Scarlett) you get movie gold. That is what Her is. Her is glorious, beautiful, poignant movie gold. I hope very much it cashes in at the Oscars (which are coming up, by the way) because it was MAGIC!
What is her (as it is stylized)? Well I’m glad you asked. It is a romantic/science fiction film that was written, directed, and produced by Spike Jonze, about Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix), a man who ends up in a relationship with an intelligent computer operating system named Samatha (Scarlett Johansson). Theodore, a handwritten letter writer (because in the future, people definitely don’t hand write letters), decides one day in between his sad life (he is in the middle of a divorce) to check out the newly released intuitive operating system, which purportedly has a personality. It is artificial intelligence at its most frightening, because it feels human. Naturally, Theodore needs it for his home computer. Ever so slowly, he begins to fall deeper in love with Samantha, his girlfriend without a body. And ever so slowly, he isn’t sad anymore.
Before I talk about the acting work in this movie, let’s talk about the plot and script. In an age where every book is turned into a film, and when throwing a stone knocks over dozens of movie-turned-musical adaptations, I was wildly impressed by the novelty of this film. It was clearly a not-so-distant future, it was quite plausible, and it was beautiful. I loved imagining that world, I loved being taken to that world, and I loved living in that world. Although the premise was strange to me, a man being in a relationship with his computer, it was accepted in the film as a normal thing people do. In the beginning of the film, the intelligent OS was new, and so we heard voices of disbelief or distaste regarding Theodore’s relationship, but as the film went on, it became more and more socially acceptable to be involved in a relationship with someone real and yet not real. The liminal space, the grey area, was intriguing and something that I don’t think is often explored via film in a realistic way. Although her is categorized as a science fiction film, it didn’t feel anything like science fiction to me. It felt just as honest and legitimate as any other drama involving the relationship between two individuals.
Did I mention that Scarlett Johansson was wonderful? She was delightful! My hat goes off to both her and Joaquin Phoenix. The acting in this film was superb. I don’t know how the film was made. It is possible that Scarlett Johansson recorded all of her lines separately from Joaquin Phoenix. It is also possible that Johansson was off camera but in the room, giving Phoenix something to play off of. Regardless, it was phenomenally done and I was wildly impressed. Acting with a scene partner is hard. Acting with just a voice? I can’t even imagine. I couldn’t be more impressed with the depth of the relationship that was explored when there was only one physical scene partner on stage. Much like Sandra Bullock and acting with Space as her scene partner, both Johansson and Phoenix did phenomenal work with the challenge with which they were presented. I loved Scarlett Johansson even more because we never saw her face! We knew all about her every thought, feeling, and emotion based off of the sound of her voice. She was absolutely beautiful. I also have to commend Phoenix on his ability to not be completely insane, wear a gigantic mustache without laughing at himself, and his ability to create a compelling and deep man who feels without being cliché.
Amy Adams was also in the film, and played Amy, one of Theodore’s longtime friends. While Amy has a much larger role to play in American Hustle, she was a wonderful on screen connection for Phoenix’s character. She also finds herself developing a friendship with an intelligent OS, and offers an enormous amount of support to Theodore when he begins to question what he is doing. She asks him, “isn’t it a real relationship?” As a good friend does, she gives him the love and space he needs to be the best version of himself he can be.
One of the biggest reasons I loved this film was its vision of humanity. In it, I saw a new world, one where people were free to choose who they should love. A world that accepts people for who they are. It wasn’t utopia, it wasn’t perfect, but it was a good place to live. I learned a lot about what it means to love and be loved from this film. I loved watching a new relationship grow. I loved watching Samantha (the computer) explore her understanding of what it means to be human. I loved the ways in which society supported a non-homogenous life experience without refusing to serve it at restaurants. I had a great time reflecting upon the layers of personhood, and discovering that what makes me a person has very little to do with my arms and legs. And I loved seeing a previously broken person remade whole.
The whole movie from start to finish was breathtaking, and I am certain this review isn’t doing it justice. Please, do me a favor, and go see it. Take your acting students, especially those interested in voice over. Take your friends, your lovers, and your parents. Take your drama therapists (they love liminal spaces). Go, and watch a magical relationship unfold, made all the more magical by the ability to love without judgment.
Live, Love, Learn,
Rebecca & The Write Teacher(s)