Fair warning though: "Her" is a bit unsettling and it will leave people extremely weirded out, but "Her" is downright arresting.Theodore Twombly - the hero of Her, Spike Jonze’s new romantic drama - is a very sensitive man. Without a doubt was "12 Years a Slave" the big winner for best picture, but "Her" comes in at a close 2nd or 3rd for me. Everything from the melancholy tone, to the symbolic imagery, to the captivating and infectious narrative, "Her" was a huge surprise for me. It's a film crafted and paced so superbly, there seems to be no wrong note Jonze plays with this film. To put it in one word, the film as a whole is beautiful. There's no way these emotions would have been portrayed if Jonze didn't utilize the method that he inhabits with this flick. Emotions such as sadness, laughter, the sense of hope, the desire of love, and confusion are exceedingly palpable but not so much in a way that it's thrown in audiences faces - it gracefully settles in, making the movie not so much of a viewing but more of an experience. Without a doubt, "Her" is more of a quiet piece so you won't find much dialogue here ala "Lost in Translation", but Jonze doesn't impose this method in a swaggering way - he portrays it with perfection. His performance is a work of art.īut the biggest achievement that "Her" feats is the phenomenal narrative powered by a supercharged screenplay/directing on behalf of Spike Jonze himself. Now I've never seen Matthew's best acting performance in "Dallas Buyer's Club" to rightfully say whether his performance in that was any better than Phoenix's in "Her", but in no way should Phoenix be thrown in the back burner. I don't care about his past troubles this guy's talented. It works marvelously with its comedic but yet love/heartbreak themes.īut even though the cinematography was vibrant, boy, Joaquin Phoenix plays an absolutely magnetic and nuanced performance. Colors pop with soft textures throughout but tiptoed in with a subtle melancholy tone. Every single shot is a respectful homage to "Lost In Translation" with some "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" and with a little Wes Anderson peppered in. Well, after being nearly 1 year late watching this movie, I could say, "Her" would sure as hell won for best cinematography if "Gravity" never fell on our laps. Quite possibly one of the greatest shot films ever crafted. Let's be real: "Gravity" was just unreal. Funnily, "Her" isn't much of a departure in comparison to Jonze's earlier work, but it is, without a doubt, his most captivating. They come off as too weird or too alienating for many ("Being John Malkovich" anyone?). Now as for starters, I am not a big fan of Spike Jonze's pictures. Weirdly enough, a strong supporting performance comes from Olivia Wilde who has about 15 minutes of screen time but manages to really shine in that time. Joaquin Phoenix gives a fantastically mature stand out performance, probably the best acting I've seen from him in a long time and Scarlett Johansson's voice work is great as it was in the Jungle Book also. It's such a clever film, the only reason why it doesn't have five stars is that I felt the film was a bit overlong and seemed to drag a bit towards the end and whilst I was still gripped (more or less) I did start feeling slightly bored as the film's dreamy pace can become a tad monotonous and depressing towards the end. At times it borders on terrifyingly awkward and attempts to pose a desperately hopeless romantic story that is at times frightening and intimate. Spike Jonze just seems to excel as showing us gorgeous things, really sweet and beautiful little parcels of stories and Her is just another example.
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