“Her” is one of the most complete and satisfying movies released in theaters in this country in who knows how long. Equal parts rom-com and relationship drama, with a little futuristic sci-fi thrown in for good measure, this is a very emotional movie about relationships and how they evolve, whether they include romantic entanglements or not, and for good measure, it is also a movie about how humans relate to each other in the face of ever-changing technology. And it’s all done in a very sweet, melancholy, smart and funny way, which pretty much makes this whole movie a revelation, as one of the more thrilling things in this world is when a beautifully realized artwork like this is unveiled in all of its beauty.

“Her” is set in an unspecific not-too-distant future, one that is very recognizable to us but also features technological advancements that we can easily imagine. When the movie starts we are with our lead character Theodore Twombly (Joaquin Phoenix), whose unfortunate moniker is pretty much the worse thing about this whole film, and he is in the midst of his job, which is to write beautiful handwritten letters (of course not really handwritten but faked to appear handwritten) on behalf of paying customers, which means he has to pour all of these heavy emotions, whether they be love, or grief, or regret or whatever, out of himself and into these letters for people whom he has never met and really doesn’t know. He then leaves his job and heads to home, where is super lonely and loves to listening to sad music to match his mood, as his world is falling apart around him due to the dissolution of his marriage to his wife (Rooney Mara). And in case we don’t get that he misses her and he is lonely, we get to see him lay in bed thinking of idyllic flashbacks of his soon to be ex-wife, whom he is very hesitant to officially let go.Continue Reading …