Her

⭐ 9.0/10

(Originally written by Joseph)

Well now here is a weeeeeird movie and after a few days I'm not sure how I feel about it. It's a near-future sci-fi movie about lonely Joaquin Phoenix who's wife recently left him, and so he gets an AI companion to help him organize his things before his relationship with his companion begins to evolve.

So right off the bat, I think this is actually a very timely movie that just gets more relevant as we have not only developing AI, but also increased loneliness. I once saw a comedian who said something like, "we'll all be bigoted when we're old, we just don't know in which ways. Just wait till your daughter starts sleeping with a robot." I think about that often. This movie asks a lot of those interesting questions, like how should we treat AI, should we consider their feelings, can we have actual emotional bonds with them, and if so, is loving them legitimate? Obviously the answers don't matter much right now, but I think they might in our lifetime, and it often makes me consider how we view our relationships with, say, our pets. I also thought it raised an interesting question of what happens when we fall out of love with AI? Can we just shut them off?!

Anyways, aside from this, I actually thought this movie was more just about love between humans, and exploring connection, give and take, the physical nature of relationships, etc. I thought it did a fantastic job of asking questions without answering them, and putting our character in a lot of interesting positions. Within 2 hours you change your opinion like a dozen times. It's superbly written most times, and pretty fiercely existential. He goes on about never feeling anything new, just the same things but less intensely, and that made me feel some very unexpected things. It sounds kinda cheesy, but for a movie about AI, this movie has a lot to say about what it's like to be human.

Purely in terms of being a movie, I liked a lot about it. Great camerawork, a fascinating, almost utopian look at the future, great writing, terrific acting. I'm not big on Scarlett Johansson, and her character could be a little much (she's an incredibly horny AI!), but overall the interactions between she and Joaquin were pretty special. Otherwise, this movie gets a little "indie" at times where I felt they were trying to be a little too artful, and also this movie can get a little explicit, to the point where I had to turn down the volume so my neighbors didn't get the wrong idea.

So I dunno. It's a weird movie that made me uncomfortable at times, but it won me over. At first I was pretty clearly on the side of, this is stupid, but it's fun to think about... but by the end I was unclear. I actually think this movie gave us a conclusion that was a little too tidy in some ways (he never really had to make a decision), and it's hard to feel bad for a guy who somehow had the ability to make all these beautiful women yearn for him. So overall, definitely worth watching for an exploration of some cool concepts which is what sci-fi is all about!