Theodore and Samantha Forever
By: Connor Lenahan
As I mentioned in yesterday’s Golden Globes article I had narrowly missed seeing Spike Jonze’s Her before the end of 2013. Today I got around to watching it and it was well worth the wait. It’s a beautiful story of love and loneliness. Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlett Johansson develop incredible screen chemistry despite Johansson never actually appearing physically.
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Phoenix plays Theodore Twombly, a recent divorcee looking for someone to end the loneliness in his life. He’s an adorably awkward guy (much like myself) and isn’t particularly social. This is what draws him to Samantha, his operating system. She’s there with him constantly while not actually ever being with him. She’s just a voice that can manipulate computer screens.
Phoenix does a fantastic job of displaying both what makes Twombly so awkward and lovable. His marriage and subsequent divorce from Rooney Mara’s Catherine are believable. He has an enjoyable quirkiness and way with words that would be appealing to a prospective partner. Yet his awkwardness with handling situations in with humans is apparent when it is less so with Samantha.
He shows the development of a man confused by the capabilities of his new OS into someone completely engrossed in a relationship with someone he feels to be real. Samantha changes him. She gives him the ability to feel something other than loneliness and depression. He’s happy with her. He’s smiling again.
Even though his relationship with Samantha is never truly real, the heartbreak over their breakup is real. You cannot choose who you love. Theodore loves Samantha, body or none, and when she leaves it’s the same pain as the departure of Catherine if not greater.
Phoenix is moving as Twombly. He’s able to portray every emotion of a developing/steady/concluding relationship without having anyone else to play off of. He’s alone the entire time, but it never feels like it. His love for Samantha is easier seen than the woman herself. There is no more beautiful scene than when Samantha is leaving Theodore and the camera shows where Samantha would be lying on the bed if she were human. The movie treats her as human while never forgetting the truth.
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Scarlett Johansson is better in this movie that I had expected. Voice acting is far from new, but doing it with literally no visual representation is challenging. She’s not making a character out of a cartoon; she’s making a character out of a plastic earpiece and metal rectangle. Samantha feels real to Theodore and felt real to me for the majority of the movie. Without any ability to physically express the relationship she’s in Johansson still makes things work. That’s even selling it short. She does an incredible job given the degree of difficulty at which the role is set.
It’s hard not to love Samantha. She’s faithful, caring, comforting and kind though only existing in sound. She truly does love Theodore, even though she must talk to other people (Read: over 8,000 others). But she is adamant that she is truly in love with Theodore. Theodore and the audience believe her, and stay with her. When it’s time to go, it feels as though someone close is passing away. Even when on a temporary break to upgrade her software, the sense of panic felt by Theodore is amazing. That’s the challenge of falling for Samantha. When she goes away there are no second chances. The breakup almost doubles as her funeral. That Scarlett Johansson makes me feel so many feels by simply giving a voice over is amazing. She probably won’t get awards consideration for this film, but she at the very least deserves to be in the conversation.
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There are other people in this movie, but the only people of consequence are Phoenix and Johansson. Rooney Mara takes a scene to rationalize what is truly happening in Theodore’s relationship. Olivia Wilde is the catalyst for the relationship in the first place. Amy Adams is a confidant to Theodore that helps him feel more comfortable with his new life with Samantha.
Mara, Wilde and Adams are great in limited time, but don’t make anywhere near the impact that Phoenix and Johansson do. Which is okay, because the story is about their relationship, but the trio of supporting women help add perspective and depth to the unreal situation.
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Her is high concept and high execution. It’s a critically applauded movie for being an innovatively beautiful love story. Her deserves the high praise. It’s a movie I repeatedly made personal connections to despite it being more or less science fiction. Samantha may be gone, but the joy and confidence she has given to Theodore will remain. This gives us a simultaneously heartwarming and heartbreaking film that is truly excellent. I highly recommend Her and bringing a box of tissues along as well.
Connor Lenahan (@ConnorLenahan) is the founder and editor-in-chief of Connorlenahan.com. He is a freshman at Boston University, majoring in journalism. He can be emailed at lenahan@bu.edu