Her

Joaquin Phoenix lives in the future and writes letters to people, from other people for a living. Everybody in his time has a computer who runs their life for them (basically Siri but a bit more advanced). The company that makes Siri decides that it needs a mind of its own so develops an AI version that learns over time. Strangely this AI version sounds a lot like Scarlett Johansson and is witty, sexy and all the things a computer generally isn't........well unless you are looking at jokes or porn. Joaquin is a lonely dude who is in the throws of a divorce and starts to really bond with computer Scarlett. Eventually they start to have feelings for one another in a way that should never occur between a human and a machine. Joaquin tells his friends Chris Pratt and Amy Adams and noone, and I mean not a single freakin' person, even bats an eyelid.

This is probably as quirky a concept as you will see in modern cinema, a love story between a man and his computer. It starts off very understated and we see Joaquin going about his day to day business. He is a deeply lonely man and plays it brilliantly, really making you feel for him. When Scarlett enters the picture Joaquin becomes more and more complex and alive as he finally has someone to converse and share his life with. The concept of the AI system learning and adapting to the individual does raise many interesting questions, focusing mainly on the true feelings, particularly love, that would be expressed by human and AI as a result of the evolution of the software. Are these feelings truly real? or are they inevitable as the AI becomes everything Joaquin needs it to be? Unfortunately this film is in two halves with the first half very interesting indeed and the second......well not so much.

The problem starts when they actually fall in love, which is done in the most pretentious of ways, giggling to classical music on the beach at sunset whilst discussing how perfect the moment is.........seriously bugger off with this shit, it's not necessary. I still had faith with the film however, by the way Sara had already started swearing at this point, that is until he tells his fellow humans of his love. How do they react you ask? Well they react by just accepting it with no question whatsoever. I mean seriously I could understand if the AI system had been around for a long time as yes I could see how emotions could develop, but it's completely new! It would be like me confessing to everyone that Sara is not a human but is in fact a toaster, with whom I am very much in love and we plan to marry and have little toaster babies together. If that were true then everyone would think I was completely mental, they wouldn't say 'OK that's cool, wanna go on a double date picnic?' Its a completely bonkers plot point that annoyed the hell out of me. In my opinion it would have been so much better if they had gone with the forbidden, strange love angle.

Ultimately I ended up disliking this film which is a real shame as I started off enjoying it immensely. They could have done better.

Verdict: 2.5/5 (and you only got that because of the start and the performances)