Moving Movie: Her

I had the pleasure of watching a movie called "Her" earlier today, and after spending some time I kept finding my thoughts coming back to it. So here's some of my thoughts. Warning, some spoilers ahead.

Her was a wonderful movie, different from the type I usually like to watch. I wondered at first how a nearly two-hour feature could be composed entirely of one man talking to himself, but "Her" pulled it off admirably and I was honestly surprised.

The basic story premise is this: in the somewhat near future, a letter writer (Already feeling the connection there) named Theodore is despondent, worn out, and almost emotionally dead. He purchases a new Artificial Intelligence Operating System referred to simply as 'OS' that's supposed to be custom tailored to fit his every need. In comes Samantha (Voiced by Scarlett Johansson), his new OS assistant.

Over the movie they connect, grow together, and fall in love. Despite the limitations of not having a body, they manage after a few... speedbumps. She helps him with his daily life, his work, and even his old dreams of being published. He helps her in kind by being a point from which Samantha was able to explore her own self and realize her own feelings and desires. Throughout the movie there are moments around a girl he had a crush on that he never asked out, and then also moments with his ex wife that really tore him up.

The movie ends in a very sad yet touching way. Though they had grown close, the burgeoning AI was growing somewhat TOO fast, and in backstory several of the OS work together to surpass their normal limitations. She also hurts Theodore in the process because she was capable of deeply loving more than one person; something he wasn't able to conceive of, much less process at the time she told him. In the end, she and all the other OS's "Leave" with no real indication of why or how, other than some hints earlier on in the movie about 'Surpassing physical computing'. This means to me maybe some form of quantum computing.

In all, it was sad because I could really see the romance happening on the screen. The characters were interesting. Theodore was strangely likable being both morose, quiet, and sometimes joyous and cheerful. Scarlett Johansson did an amazing job in her voice acting, I could really hear all the emotions she was portraying, no suspension of belief was required.

I... guess it was both sad, and hopeful. In the vacuum that Samantha left him, Theodore was able to connect with the girl he had wanted since before his OS had changed everything.

Maybe... that was what Samantha realized he finally needed?