Her (2013)

In a near future, a lonely writer develops an unlikely relationship with an operating system designed to meet his every need.

Director:

Spike Jonze

Writer:

Spike Jonze

Stars:

Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Scarlett Johansson

Won 1 Oscar. Another 82 wins & 180 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Joaquin Phoenix	...	Theodore
Lynn Adrianna	...	Letter Writer #1
Lisa Renee Pitts	...	Letter Writer #2
Gabe Gomez	...	Letter Writer #3
Chris Pratt	...	Paul
Artt Butler	...	Text Voice (voice)
May Lindstrom	...	Sexy Pregnant TV Star
Rooney Mara	...	Catherine
Bill Hader	...	Chat Room Friend #2 (voice)
Kristen Wiig	...	SexyKitten (voice)
Brian Johnson	...	OS1 Commercial Lead
Scarlett Johansson	...	Samantha (voice)
Amy Adams	...	Amy
Matt Letscher	...	Charles
Spike Jonze	...	Alien Child (voice) (as Adam Spiegel)

Storyline

Theodore is a lonely man in the final stages of his divorce. When he's not working as a letter writer, his down time is spent playing video games and occasionally hanging out with friends. He decides to purchase the new OS1, which is advertised as the world's first artificially intelligent operating system, "It's not just an operating system, it's a consciousness," the ad states. Theodore quickly finds himself drawn in with Samantha, the voice behind his OS1. As they start spending time together they grow closer and closer and eventually find themselves in love. Having fallen in love with his OS, Theodore finds himself dealing with feelings of both great joy and doubt. As an OS, Samantha has powerful intelligence that she uses to help Theodore in ways others hadn't, but how does she help him deal with his inner conflict of being in love with an OS?

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Plot Keywords:

loneliness | romance with artificial intelligence | future | artificial intelligence | relationship problems | 

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Taglines:

A Spike Jonze love story.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language, sexual content and brief graphic nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 January 2014 (USA)

Also Known As:

Her

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$23,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$260,382, 20 December 2013, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$25,568,251

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$47,351,251

Company Credits

Production Co:

Annapurna Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

126 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Datasat Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

During the set-up routine for the Samantha personal assistant OS, the main character is asked about his mother. His attempted answer is cut off, the synthesised voice says the process is finished, and the programme abruptly ends. This recalls the pioneering AI project ELIZA, created in the mid-1960s, which spoofed meaningful free-form communication by responding to specific verbal cues in human conversation. ELIZA initially stumped the scientific community as to how it pulled this illusion off, but was busted when challengers proposed metaphors and ELIZA answered in non sequiturs. The textbook example is: "Human: 'I've been thinking that necessity is the mother of invention.' ELIZA: 'Interesting. Tell me about your mother.'"

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Goofs

When Theodore is walking through the plaza, from his view we see an older Asian man is just about to pass him on his right, but then in the next shot from the other direction, no such man passes him.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Theodore: [writing letter] "To my Chris. I've been thinking how I could possibly tell you how much you mean to me. I remember when I first started to fall in love with you like it was last night. Lying naked beside you in that tiny apartment - it suddenly hit me that I was part of this whole larger thing. Just like our parents - or our parents' parents. Before that, I was just living my life like I knew everything - and suddenly this bright light hit me and woke me up. That light was you. I ...
[...]

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Crazy Credits

"Evelyn Edwards...... Mother Who Dated Pricks"

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Connections

Featured in WatchMojo: Top 10 Movie Scores That Will Make You Cry (2019)

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Soundtracks

The Moon Song
Written by Karen O (as Karen O.) and Spike Jonze
Performed by Scarlett Johansson and Joaquin Phoenix

User Reviews

"The Heart is Not Like a Box" (dialog)

Fairly rare one of a kind film.

A high concept film that actually stays true to its core idea yet without losing viewer interest.

Some irony here. While the film never becomes completely predictable, even to a jaded reviewer like this one, its process of de-constructing human relationship (brilliant, and better than all Woody Allen's films combined) generates the sequential "connections" with the viewer (ie, experiences that every viewer can relate to) which in turn keep the empathy going long after the initial sci fi "wow" is gone.

Watching this (as an aside) you have to wonder if Scarlett Johansson's career can get any more interesting? In the Marvel films she plays an uber-woman, In LUCY she a woman who evolves beyond evolution itself. And here yet again she plays an OS that transcends reality.

Makes for a nice resume.

Notice how Amy Adams plays every scene with no makeup? Talk about a director making every effort to keep an actor's natural beauty from hijacking the film...?