Her

[scootermcc]

Caught this at a preview.

Enjoyable film and really makes you think about the way society is going.

Here's my review http://www.cinemabang.com

7/10

[sikmansam]

Saw this on Sunday at Odeon Covent Garden and thoroughly enjoyed it. Her somehow finds something tender, funny and sophisticated in a romance between man and operating system. 8/10

My review:

[newdot]

pa*d to see this last night. Didn't live up to the hype. Pheonix is good in a difficult role but the pre-oscar "awards buzz" for Scarlett Johansson was, in retrospect, mildly ridiculous.

Emperor's New Clothes 4/10

[99h13]

I thought this is one hell of a weird film! I'd give it 4/10

[TheyCallMeMrGlass]

Going into Her, I wasnt sure whether to expect an orgasm or to be sick.

What I got, was a darkly funny, soulful and surreally terrifying cerebral sci fi that made me laugh, reflect on our own society and reflect on my own subconscious life.

Strip away the fact that our protagonist's lover is a next generation Intel chip, what you actually have left is still a wonderfully absorbing Woody Allen-esque character study on relationships, society and the frightening level of technological influence on society's behavioral patterns which are all things that we can relate to, today. Add in the self conscious operating system however and we now have a fascinating fusion of Woody Allen's Annie Hall, Isaac Asimov's I Robot and Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Its a brilliant piece of filmmaking to evoke the aforementioned feelings and to translate such depth in projected society behavioural attitudes and interconnectivity into a visceral and ethereal experience. Sadly that brilliance could not be maintained for the whole two hour duration of the film. So when it falters in the second half of the film, it evoked the feeling of frustration and awkwardness from me. It came to a point where I could no longer accept the protagonists feelings and decisions taken given the circumstances they are placed in. Narrative-wise, I get the point. Realistically, it didn't gel and it became terribly awkward viewing. I used the word realistic, loosely of course, this being a surrealist movie but I couldn't accept the extreme ignorances at show and turning of a blind eye to the obvious. Having said that, we do what these protagonists do today, so its probably me that is ignorantly refusing to accept the plausibility of our protagonists' actions.

The script writing throughout is ingenious, however, the story turns are very smart and the dialogue is in turns sublime and rawly funny. The performance of Phoenix is simply amazing and truly made me believe that he was in love with his next generation operating system. A lesser actor would effectively had this film being flushed down a toilet because the concept is such a fragile one, it needs great performances to keep the plausibility afloat. Luckily we get that from all involved, especially the voice of the operating system. While watching the end credits, I realise it was Scarlett Johanssen, which took me by surprise. The evolution of her soul in her speech was absolutely captivating, funny, and at times frightening. If there was an award for best voice acting, she would deserve a nod...but that crown belongs to Ashley Johnson as Ellie in Last of Us. Amy Adams seems to be the goto girl for her glarey eyed expression of "I want to reach out to you but I can't, please reach out to me". And why not, she's bloody good at it and is once again used to good effect, here.

Being John Malkovich was the only other Spike Jonze film I had seen so far which was also a darkly funny, surreally warped and weird movie but that left me with a distinctly nasty aftertaste.

This in contrast was more beautiful and does not leave any bitter aftertaste but instead left me with a sense of frustration in its last act but perhaps that is the point of the film. A warning of the direction, society is heading towards, in fact already in. For instance, people in social gatherings texting on their phones ignoring the ripe social surroundings for enjoyable conversations and interactions are all too common to see today. We are already in that future where mobile phones rule us. Answering the phone while someone talks to you or when in a group gathering etc (I never answer my phone while engaged in face to face conversations, I try refuse to be assimilated in such societal social degradation). But society in general do that and its all too common and have become our naturally accepted social behaviour. I hate that society has become that way. But I digress, the point it is, the future society behaviour projection in this movie is not as far fetched as it looks. Even falling in love with a self conscious operating system is believable knowing that some people declare their sophisticated blow up life size dolls are their girlfriends and somewhat accepted by family and friends (its true, I saw a documentary on it).

All in all, as cerebral films go, this is the funniest one I have seen, very thought provoking, very weird and I will even say rewarding if you accept the plausibility of the protagonists actions all the way. I didn't, so its not fully rewarding for me and I felt very uncomfortable with the direction it took for much of the last third but I am guessing for most who have seen, had no such issue with it judging by the high ratings.

Despite my rating, this is brilliant auteristic film making.

7.5/10

Oh and forgive my innuendo at the beginning, couldn't help it :)

[Ms Thrifty]

Saw this today, free with one of my accumulated PH vouchers. Sorry to say that whilst I did like parts of it, it didn't live up to my expectations and was definitely a curate's egg. I don't mind long films per se, but boy did this drag in the middle after a slow but promising start, and it seemed to lose its way altogether towards the end. The premise was novel and inventive, and not too futuristic for my anti sci-fi views, but the writer appeared to me literally to lose the plot. Thought Scarlett Johansson's voiceover was excellent, however - and had been surprised to read recently that Samantha Morton had originally provided the voice but had been replaced. 7/10 from me.