Falling in love with a computer is easier than ever in the amazing and heartfelt Her

Technology has often been accused of putting barriers between people, holding back social interactions, and the terrifying possibility that we’ve lost control. That perhaps it is the machines that control us. People walk around constantly with their faces in their phones and electronic devices, holding conversations with staccatos of texts and mostly prosaic and abstract online interactions. Everyone searches for integrity and honesty in every crazy video on YouTube, while simultaneously suspecting them all to be hoaxes. Certainly people still interact in person, of course, but it’s become easier and easier to interact through your computer.

Barring societal collapse, it does seem plausible that we will only become more immersed and more jaded. Humanity still seeks beauty and safety while fearing the unknown and the false. But we still want things to be easier and easier still. One of the interesting pursuits of research is in the field of Artificial Intelligence, that being intelligence, probably on a computer, that can think for itself unbound by the necessities of organic matter to hold them back. Science fiction has come up with all sorts of names for such beings, whether called Machine Intelligent, Post-Organic, Non-Organic, etc. But there will always be the sneaking suspicion that an AI is “not human’ like us. Whatever that means.

Her is the latest movie from director/writer Spike Jonze, of such mind bending films as Adaptation and Being John Malkovich. In the not too distant future, Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) is lonely after being separated from his wife (Rooney Mara) as his divorce papers lay nearby, unsigned and ignored. He has an interesting but repetitive job as a writer of personalized greeting cards, where it is clear he has some talent but no drive. It is just happenstance that a new operating system has just become available and is the latest thing to buy: an OS that can treat you like a real person, not just vaguely advanced voice recognition software. Immediately Theodore finds himself drawn to the OS (played by the voice of Scarlett Johansson) who decides to call herself Samantha. And despite himself, Theodore becomes increasingly attached to an OS that for all intents and purposes seems like a real person. Maybe he’s even falling in love. Maybe she is beginning to feel the same way. But as a newly “born” OS, she has only begun to experience the vast range of experiences, which include not only happy emotions, but dark ones like sadness, pain, and jealousy. Theodore’s ex might be dismissive and his friend (Amy Adams) or boss (Chris Pratt) might be supportive, but he himself is confused. Because in the end, can he really have a relationship with something that exists digitally but not physically?

The end of the year often brings great movies, often prestige pictures aiming for the awards season. Sometimes these films are overblown and overwrought, cherry picked to target critics and ignore mainstream audiences and ultimately be just as cold and calculated as any mega-blockbuster. But sometimes you get lucky. As it stands here near the end of December, Her is one my favorite movies of the year. True, not too much in the way of greatness has been out in the first half of the year, but usually it’s not quite this clear. There is something about the message of loneliness and technological growth that very specifically speaks to me, but those messages can reach many others as well.

This movie can be funny and charming in one scene, then suddenly heart-breaking and intense in the next. With so much going on and to discuss, I don’t want to spoil things for the potential watcher. But there are things I can certainly discuss. The script is light in comparison to some others, but the acting here is some of the best you’ll see this year. Joaquin Phoenix, no surprise, carries this movie visually, showcasing subtlety and heavy emotion in a way like few other actors today. And yet, Scarlett Johansson plays the perfect auditory contrast, perhaps some of the best voice acting in a while for a non-animated feature. It is shockingly easy to imagine Samantha as just as real as any human being, which I suppose is the point. Some of the smaller parts are fine, with Amy Adams doing the third extremely different role (after Man of Steel and American Hustle) showcasing an absurd level of talent for someone that good-looking.

I love the way this movie looks and moves, moving along briskly even though it’s a hair over two hours long. When the credits roll, you may find yourself simultaneously thinking it couldn’t end any better but that you desperately want to know what might happen next. That’s a pretty great way for any movie to conclude. I found myself completely immersed in the evolving relationship of Theodore and Samantha, which perhaps mirrored the possible evolution of humans alongside machines. Or perhaps not … there are a lot of ways to look at it. There’s so much to love about this movie, and I often say that if something can make me laugh and cry, it’s automatically a favorite. And that certainly applies for Her.