Her (*****)

“Why do people have to be this lonely? What's the point of it all? Millions of people in this world, all of them yearning, looking to others to satisfy them, yet isolating themselves. Why? Was the earth put here just to nourish human loneliness?”

"Her" is a film unlike any other this year. In a screenwriting debut, Spike Jonze (of "Being John Malkovich" and "Adaptation." fame) single-handedly turns in a story on par with the best of Charlie Kaufman, a story of humans and machines and the crazy world in which we live (and perhaps the world we will soon be experiencing). 

The time is the near-future. The date is not important. Nor is the setting, a massive expanse of high-rises and skyscrapers with lights, images, color, people. It's an entire world, and yet the people in this world inhabit their own, with earpieces that are reminiscent of the smartphone fad. Heads down, focused on reading emails, people pass through the most beautiful settings unaware of any special significance. 

Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix) is one such man. He is freshly-single from a divorce, still haunted by memories of their life. He works in an office where he is hired to write love letters to people as though penned by the lover, themself. He is a genius of the craft, able to eloquently ghost write a love note to an elderly couple, but lacks the social skills necessary for anything else, least of all his relationships with women. 

A new software becomes available, an operating system with an artificial intelligence. She names herself Samantha (the gorgeous, scratchy voice of Scarlett Johansson).  She begins to charm Theodore with her knowledge, her insight, her programming. She asks about his life, his past wife, his thoughts.... They fall in love. 

As far as you are concerned, that is the plot of the trailer, cryptic and beautiful, and yet there is an ocean of depth to this film! We discover other people are falling in love with their OS's (operating systems), though it's rare. Theodore begins introducing Samantha to his friends, colleagues. Some are surprised, some are not. All the while while watching, I was aware of my own distaste with the subject matter. So radical, nearly warped, and yet not without the slightest hint of self-reflection. 

Can a man and machine truly love one another? Can an artificial intelligence honestly feel emotions, especially towards a human being? As Theodore's neighbor, Amy (Amy Adams) puts it: how can you decide what's real if you're not actually experiencing it? 

The ending leaves as many questions and puzzles as the film's beginning. Through the gorgeous futuristic settings and against the somber Arcade Fire soundtrack, "Her" was one of my most pleasurable movie experiences this year. This is not to say I was laughing, although it is a comedy. Nor is it to say I was depressed, though it is a hard-hitting drama. Spike Jonze manages the near-impossible, telling a science fiction story with the most humanistic focus possible. That's a rare feat, indeed. 

(Awards potential: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Phoenix), Best Supporting Actress (Adams, Johansson), Best Original Screenplay, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, Best Cinematography, Best Soundtrack)