Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) is a man living in the not-too-distant future. He has been feeling down lately because of a failed recent relationship. His mind is constantly running flashbacks of how excellent things had been before.
Theodore lives in a time in which technology has now become so advanced that operating systems with consciousnesses are being sold. Not only are the owners able to communicate with the them--which seems to have been the case anyway--but the computers are becoming very much alive. They think for themselves, they learn, and they even have emotions.
Theodore buys one of these operating systems and sets the voice to female. She names herself Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson). At first, they are just getting to know each other. But as their friendship deepens, an intimate relationship forms that helps him progress and be a better person.
Had this film been made by a studio that only wanted money, it would be as stupid as it sounds. A guy dates his computer. What a joke! However, this film constructs the relationship so brilliantly that by the time they start dating, it is not nearly as absurd as you would think.
The moment Theodore downloads the operating system and starts talking to Samantha, you can see why he would fall in love with "her." She is nice, she is charming, she is funny and she is lively.
What is interesting, is she is very much as human as anyone else. She has emotions and gets hurt when someone says something she does not like. With those emotions, she also feels joy, which comes about as her meaningful relationships progress and as she learns new things.
This movie could not have been pulled off without writer/director Spike Jonze's ("Where the Wild Things Are") construction of an interesting script with careful attention to detail. Not only is the dialogue believable, it brings out what my high school drama teacher always used to call "universal truths" that make scripts worth studying and provoke thought. For example, there is one part where they are walking along the beach, and Samantha says something about how humans look that is very close to some thoughts I have had before. It was interesting hearing it put the way she said.
Johnze also made sure the futuristic world is believable. His direction shows a world with advanced technology that could probably come about within the next twenty years. The people walk around with cordless buds in their ears that hook up to their computers and read e-mails to them. Their video games are holographic and require no controller. The computers are all activated by voice.
Even Theodore's job is something that is unique to the world created by Spike Johnze. I like how the film introduces it, so I will not reveal anything about it. What I will say is I think it is commentary by the director on how impersonal society is getting in their communication.
Joaquin Phoenix's performance as Theodore is excellent. I have only seen him in "Gladiator" and "Walk the Line." In both those films he plays a man who does a lot of despicable things. In this film, he is a normal man who is at a low point in his life. He brings out so much likability that when a character says something very hurtful to him in one scene, I feel his pain.
I give this movie five out of five stars. It is such a brilliantly crafted movie that it makes something that would be very dysfunctional in real life seem at least a little understandable. It also teaches a lesson about relationships that I feel is very important to know. Walking out of the theatre I felt edified.
Content: Rated R. Though it does not have any explicit sex scenes, there is a lot of sexuality and sensuality in this film, which is mainly provocative noises. There is also one scene of frontal female nudity near the beginning that happens while some of the noises are heard. There is also moderate language--about average for a film of this rating--with quite a few F-words. It is not a family movie by any means.
Had this film been made by a studio that only wanted money, it would be as stupid as it sounds. A guy dates his computer. What a joke! However, this film constructs the relationship so brilliantly that by the time they start dating, it is not nearly as absurd as you would think.
The moment Theodore downloads the operating system and starts talking to Samantha, you can see why he would fall in love with "her." She is nice, she is charming, she is funny and she is lively.
What is interesting, is she is very much as human as anyone else. She has emotions and gets hurt when someone says something she does not like. With those emotions, she also feels joy, which comes about as her meaningful relationships progress and as she learns new things.
This movie could not have been pulled off without writer/director Spike Jonze's ("Where the Wild Things Are") construction of an interesting script with careful attention to detail. Not only is the dialogue believable, it brings out what my high school drama teacher always used to call "universal truths" that make scripts worth studying and provoke thought. For example, there is one part where they are walking along the beach, and Samantha says something about how humans look that is very close to some thoughts I have had before. It was interesting hearing it put the way she said.
Johnze also made sure the futuristic world is believable. His direction shows a world with advanced technology that could probably come about within the next twenty years. The people walk around with cordless buds in their ears that hook up to their computers and read e-mails to them. Their video games are holographic and require no controller. The computers are all activated by voice.
Even Theodore's job is something that is unique to the world created by Spike Johnze. I like how the film introduces it, so I will not reveal anything about it. What I will say is I think it is commentary by the director on how impersonal society is getting in their communication.
Joaquin Phoenix's performance as Theodore is excellent. I have only seen him in "Gladiator" and "Walk the Line." In both those films he plays a man who does a lot of despicable things. In this film, he is a normal man who is at a low point in his life. He brings out so much likability that when a character says something very hurtful to him in one scene, I feel his pain.
I give this movie five out of five stars. It is such a brilliantly crafted movie that it makes something that would be very dysfunctional in real life seem at least a little understandable. It also teaches a lesson about relationships that I feel is very important to know. Walking out of the theatre I felt edified.
Content: Rated R. Though it does not have any explicit sex scenes, there is a lot of sexuality and sensuality in this film, which is mainly provocative noises. There is also one scene of frontal female nudity near the beginning that happens while some of the noises are heard. There is also moderate language--about average for a film of this rating--with quite a few F-words. It is not a family movie by any means.
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