Her

I've seen 'Her' twice now, and I'm still struggling to wrap my head around it.

It's not an overly complicated movie, just the opposite in fact. I'd say it's theme of letting yourself love and to use that love to grow as a person, no matter how strange, is pretty universal.

It's just the way that director Spike Jonze captures the relationship Joaquin Phoenix has with his Operating System, voiced by Scarlett Johansson, in such a remarkably candid and honest way that I've found myself thinking about it every day for the past week.

Jonze is not making judgements about our addiction to technology, rather he focuses on what it means to feel lonely and to then be rescued from that feeling.

UGH, this sounds all lovey feely. But shit, let's be real, we've all been there. For some reason, I tend to look back on the hard days I've had from time to time, usually followed by a viewing of The Notebook. Why? I don't know. To remind me of what I have now? Maybe, but whatever the reason, it helps me feel human, and Jonze is able to capture that raw and ever so human feeling with a movie about a guy who dates a computer. Awesome.

Joaquin Phoenix is crazy good in this movie. Film critic Devin Faraci reminded me in his review of the film that this is same actor who only a year ago played Freddie Quell in The Master, one of the most broken characters ever put on film. In Her, his Theodore is also a broken man of sorts, but one ready and willing to have hope. It's an insane reversal, but it makes me excited to see what else this guy is capable of.

Scarlett is also great, something that is happening more and more these days. I've always enjoyed her work, but the last few years she seems to have gone out of her way to pick more interesting parts, and she seems to be relishing in the opportunities. It's extremely difficult for any actor to make any kind of impression in a movie, so the fact that Johansson comes across so real and appealing using only her voice is fascinating.

Overall, I think Her is really about accepting the love you've had and using that to move forward. I'm sucker for movies like these as it is, but Her is especially good because it just happens to be especially good.