Theodore: It's true
Amy: What?....wait, are you falling in love with her?
Theodore: Does that make me a freak?
Amy: No.....I think anybody who falls in love is a freak. It's a crazy thing to do. It's like a socially acceptable form of insanity
Her is Spike Jonze's new masterpiece after Being John Malkovich that deals with the concept of urban loneliness and the future of relationships that might actually become a reality. Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) is a lonely writer who hasn't been able to come to terms with his separation from his wife, Catherine (Rooney Mara). He is reluctant to meet new people and often finds himself playing out imaginary situations in his mind how he could have said and done things differently to keep things right with his wife.
When Theodore gets a new operating system, he meets "Samantha" (voice of Scarlett Johansson), a highly intelligent OS that has been programmed to meet the needs of the owner. However, through her interactions with Theodore, she finds herself evolving into something more than what she was designed for. She almost feels jealous when Theodore meets another woman for a date, while she feels relieved when he finally signs the divorce papers with Catherine. What develops between the two is an unusual love story that we will later learn wasn't so unusual. Everyone around him is finding the comfort of a virtual relationship where supposedly one doesn't have to deal with real emotions. But like any other relationship, this one has it own demands too.
The movie has a lot of similarity with Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind in the sense that it's a sad, romantic story which makes you want to ask the character how else could have things turned out than the way they did. Both the characters feel doomed for what they conceive as the only time they felt a real connection with someone and that it may never happen again. The ease with which Jonze creates these worlds, that look so real, is a talent very few others have. Phoenix convinces his audience he was born to do this "sensitive dude who is part man-part woman" role and I'm not sure why he isn't nominated for the best actor. And Scarlett Johansson's soothing voice and sensible talk will make you want to escape into Jonze's world and wish it was real.
Rating: 8/10