But Jonze acknowledges that absurdity, and builds a wholly believable relationship between Phoenix, and a protagonist we never see. The film's world is based on ideas that initially seem absurd. So it's not that hard to imagine that Theodore could fall in love with Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson), his computer's new thinking, feeling operating system. By writing these letters, he provides total strangers with a real sense of comfort. So Theodore dictates poetic, comforting letters that are then sent to grandchildren, spouses, parents, etc. He's paid to pose as a specific loved one. Theodore's job is comically strange, though he does it very well: he writes intimate letters for and as other people. But that transition from one emotional state to another is a good sign of the life Theodore lives in the film's near-future version of Los Angeles. Theodore's in the middle of a painful divorce, and is not yet used to the idea of being separated from his ex Catherine ( Rooney Mara). Joaquin Phoenix plays Theodore Twombly, a depressed bachelor. That's the biggest hurdle in talking about "Her": getting past the inherent twee-ness of its central premise. But yes, it's also a moving story about a man who falls in love with a computer. It's a future grounded in hopes for what might be, instead of what shouldn't be. The film's sad Utopian future is, in that sense, uncertain, but full of potential. Rather an inevitable step to parts unknown. Here, technology isn't a dead-end to inter-personal interaction, but "Her" is not however a drippy " Electric Dreams" knockoff, but rather a warm and intelligent consideration of our continually evolving relationship with technology. In this melancholic, and hopeful romantic-comedy, writer/director Spike Jonze (" Being John Malkovich," " Where the Wild Things Are") tells the story of a lonely man who falls in love with his computer.
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