Down and Dirty: An unusual but worthwhile examination of
relationships
Director: Spike Jonze (Where the Wild Things Are)
Big Names: Joaquin Phoenix, Scarlett Johansson, and Amy
Adams
This film is nominated for the Academy Award of Best Motion
Picture of the Year for several reasons. The acting is brilliant, the
near-future environment looks incredibly realistic, and the music is perfectly
form fitting. But the one distinction that soars over all the others is the
writing. That is also why this film brought home the Golden Globe for Best
Screenplay. Spike Jonze has been working on the script for ‘Her’ over the
course of the last several years. He honed it, refined it, and finally directed
it this past year. You might only know him as the director of ‘Where the Wild
Things Are,’ but that’s okay. That film is the perfect precursor to this one.
It showcased his style as a uniquely interpretive artist who uses concise and
realistic dialogue to convey a complex and emotional message. This ability has
enabled Spike to create a film in ‘Her’ that challenges the audience to explore
love and connection in real-life relationships.
In typical NoSpoilers! fashion, allow me to break down what
you will be walking into without ruining the movie for you. This film is unlike
most any other I have seen. It is intimate, awkward, emotional, funny, and
ultimately an honest picture of how we interact with one another. It does not
attempt to glorify love. It does not try to celebrate volatile romance. It
simply shows us how we tend to be. Joaquin Phoenix plays Theodore Twombly, a
writer for a company in near-future Los Angeles that sends personalized love
letters. He is in the midst of a divorce when he decides to try out a new
operating system on his all-in-one device. The OS is named Samantha and is an
artificial intelligence counterpart played by the voice of Scarlett Johansson.
What follows is a slew of emotional interactions between Theodore and his many
loved ones – his ex-wife, his friends, his OS. He works on one relationship,
tidily manages his friends’, and develops yet another with Samantha. Central to
the film, his relationship with Samantha starts as casual niceties and
conversation quickly evolves into something serious. Theodore must wrestle with
the notion of engaging in an emotional connection with a nonhuman. He finds
that an OS can provide a moment’s relief from the physical responsibilities of
a relationship, but struggles to find all the elements of human comfort in a
machine.
While the idea of computerized companionship might seem
foreign to us now, it is probably not that far off in terms of technological
advances in my opinion. But that isn’t the point. The point is how do our
personal relationships transcend our media counterfeits and how do we truly
engage with each other on a personal level? Do we seek other nonhuman outlets
because we cannot deal with the realities of human relationships? People are fallible.
We will get hurt inevitably. Is it so wrong to want to escape that? Or is it
something we need to learn to work through? What are the costs of opting out?
Jonze asks these questions with some very witty, funny,
hard-hitting dialogue. But he also hints at the answers through his characters’
growth and change. Clamming up and
shutting people out of your emotional spectrum, as Theodore does, will indeed
come at a great cost - though it’s not always immediately visible. Those
emotions buried deep below the skin slowly boil and bubble up, manifesting
themselves in unhealthy ways. We tend to conceal our emotional issues as if
that will preserve our current state of equilibrium. Instead, all this serves
to do is further eliminate the vulnerability in our relationships and we are
never taught how to fix the problem. This idea of the damage hidden emotion can
cause becomes evident over the course of the film in much the same way. You
won’t feel it there until it has crept over you and taken hold in a gutting
moment of stark realization. Only then do we realize honesty would have
allowed for the necessary conversation and growth in the first place.
Jonze preaches a gospel of vulnerability and honesty. It is the emotional equipment that will
set you free. And it is illustrated vividly through three things:
cinematography that captures unique perspectives, a score that embodies the
vibe of every scene, and a performance by Joaquin Phoenix that elicits pure
catharsis.
Do not skip out on this movie because it looks weird and
unusual. Challenge yourself to see a film that will force you to examine
relationships in a new way and then force you to talk about what you just felt.
That’s what ‘Her’ wants from you. That’s what humans want from each other.
