Do you sometimes feel out of step from everyone else? Disconnected from society and not in line with popular opinion? Theodore Twombly, played by Jaoquin Phoenix in Spike Jonze’s Her certainly does. Unfortunately, so did I when watching this massively overpraised film!
Twombly has never fully recovered from splitting up with his wife a year ago and he is unable to form any meaningful relationships. However, when he purchases a new artificially intelligent operating system, and chooses a female voice for it and that system calls itself Samantha, things begin to change. He forms a bond with her that soon turns into a kind of love as she seemingly provides what he is looking for.
People who like this movie seem to be impressed by how it is a commentary of our lives today. I, on the other hand, found it unpalatable that Theodore seems to be happy just with a sexily voiced cypher that does everything he asks of her, with problems in the relationship only appearing when she seems to have thoughts of her own, and doesn’t spend her entire time pleasing him.
I would call it misogynistic if it wasn’t a greater insult to men! I found the film to be annoying right from the start. Admittedly, Phoenix has a difficult job acting for much of the movie against a disembodied voice, but I found his distant gaze and insipid delivery of his dialogue extremely irritating. In fact, that was only exceeded by the annoying plinky-plonk music provided by William Butler and Owen Pallett.
As the plot unfolds and we find out that Theodore and Samantha have issues like any other couple (you don’t say), the film actually becomes less interesting. He begins to realise that he might find a more fulfilling relationship with a real life friend (Amy Adams doing her best in an underwritten role). If you find that revelation profound, this might be the film for you, otherwise avoid at all costs!
Rating: 2 out of 10