Her: Virtual love hurts too

While writer-director Spike Jonze’s new film Her makes the most of a good gimmick (man falls in love with Siri-like computer voice), Her transcends the subject matter. Part of the credit belongs to Joaquin Phoenix, who turns in a terrific performance as Theodore Twombly, a guy who holds down a day job writing personalized love letters for people who have trouble expressing themselves.

Ironically enough, Theodore’s actually become rather automated and emotionally disconnected since he separated from his wife Catherine (Rooney Mara). One day, he sees an ad for an intuitive computer operating system that will respond to his needs and help him get organized. Voiced by Scarlett Johansson, Samantha, as the operating system calls herself, is funny, sexy, caring and full of life, even though she’s just a disembodied voice. A certain intimacy quickly emerges between the two and it’s not long before Theodore starts calling Samantha his “girlfriend.” While that pisses off Catherine, who believes it signals a certain inability to deal with other people’s emotions, it doesn’t faze longtime friend Amy (Amy Adams), who admits to having developed a close friendship with her operating system.

Jonze deserves credit for not embracing a technology-out-of-control motif. The film is a love story more than it’s a critique of the impersonal, technology-driven world in which we live. As much as the movie looks and feels like it’s set in some kind of mildly exotic world (it was filmed in Los Angeles but Jonze makes the setting look more like Tokyo) with throwback elements, the movie is about how romantic relationships and good friendships still matter in today’s world of text messaging and voice-activated communication.