Digital Love: Review of Her

In the modern age, it seems relationships are continually evolving and these days we do not need to have a physical presence in order to be happy as cyber dating has taken off! But can humanity survive and be happy with only a computer for company? Well this year, Director Spike Jonze poses this very question in his indie move Her. So far, his story of a solitary man finding love with an AI system has been one of the darlings of the award circuit (including an Oscar nomination for Best Picture) and with its impressive cast, this has been one of the most talked about movies of 2014, but can it really sustain the hype?

In 2025 Los Angeles, Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) is a lonely and secluded man who is struggling to deal with his impending divorce to his wife Catherine (Rooney Mara). To help improve his life, Theodore installs a new operating system named Samantha (voiced by Scarlett Johansson), whose has a personality which is designed to continuously evolve. As the pair get to know each other, they both fall deeply in love. But even though it feels like bliss, things become complicated by the fact she is only a voice!

Her is one of those movies that will make your heart truly sparkle and it earns the widespread critical acclaim bestowed upon it. The futuristic setting benefits the film and there are some great moment to be had, such as video games with abusive avatars (one voiced by Jonze himself), where books are now rare antiques and in this world, other character are engrossed in their computers that they simply pass each other by on the street. A typical Jonze character, Theodore is a down trodden and depressed individual who writes other peoples love letters for a living at beautifullywrittenletters.com. But as he chooses Samantha as the voice of his system, the pair hit things off straight away and she begins to improve his existence and makes him smile through their witty conversations.

Theodore’s life isn’t completely empty as we meet his various companions such as his sad neighbour Amy (Amy Adams) and experience his awkward blind date with a commitment hungry lady (Olivia Wilde)- compared to these people though, Samantha is a far more safer better for him. In the early stages their romance is utterly alluring and even though she is just a system, Samantha is the perfect girl for this man and regardless of a physical presence, the pair are very much an item! Sound-tracked to a magnificent Arcade Fire score, Jonze turns the charm factor to 11. But although some around him accept this as perfect normal- others (such as Catherine) poses the question of him just wanting a relationship without having to make the effort and this fact lingers on his mind throughout.

But like all great doomed romances, the crack begins to appear, and this bring a slight gloom to Her‘s later acts and before long in the pairs romance as their once wonderful late night conversations become overly long and increasingly strained and the lack of a presence soon becomes a big thing- which leads to one of the movies most hilariously ironic moments where Samantha hires a surrogate (Portia Doubleday) to allow the pair to have sex, only for Theodore to reject for not being real enough! Also as she evolves, Samantha becomes increasingly self absorbed and demonstrates the same types of personality shift that ruined Theodore’s marriage. Jonze’s argument whether man and AI can exist in harmony is a Coercive one and its lack of assurance adds to the doubt and worry of Theodore and lead ourselves to wonder what truly makes us happy?

Joaquin Phoenix makes for the perfect choice as the introverted and heartbroken Theodore and throughout he brings a terrific sense of melancholy. Harmed by past events, the continuous pained look in Phoenix’s eyes gives the emotional root of the movie. After his mesmerising return in The Master, it is truly great to see Joaquin back on screen again. Amy Adams is also impressive as his soon to be divorced neighbour Amy and she is able to excellently portray a sense of tragedy mixed with a sense of uplifting relief that her life is changing for the better.

But perhaps the movies real star turn comes from an A lister who never once appears and through just using her voice, Scarlett Johansson injects a tremendous charisma to Jonze’s film and allows her character to become the sort of girlfriend that dreams are made of and like her AI character, her performance effortlessly matures. A late replacement for original choice Samantha Morton, Johansson has proven to be the correct choice.

Spike Jonze’s Her is one of those movies you will inevitably see at some point and like many of his others, you will laugh, cry and go away rethinking your life and wondering what exactly will bring you closure? I think we will struggle to find a more heart warming and shiny film in 2014 and this brings proof that not all love needs to be human!

The Girlfriend Experience: Review of Ruby Sparks

Ruby Sparks

Directors: Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris

By Alex Watson

There has been a bit of a wait for Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris’ follow up to their minor indie classic Little Miss Sunshine, which gave audience something completely different and showed us the ultimate dysfunctional family road movie. Now we turn to their next idea and it comes from one of the film stars Zoe Kazan, who shows us how love can be created out of thin air and sometimes even the perfect person needs to be modified to suit ourselves. But will Ruby Sparks bring the same shine that their previous brought to the screen?

Neurotic writer Calvin (Paul Dano) is experiencing writers block and is struggling to finish his follow up book his acclaimed debut he wrote when he was 19. At the same time he dreams of a girl named Ruby (Zoe Kazan) and through these dreams he falls in love with her. When given a writing assignment by his therapist (Eliott Gould) Calvin writes a back story for Ruby and this inspires him to write again. Then one morning he wakes up to find that Ruby has now become real! But even though he has the girl of his dreams, Calvin very soon finds that the personality he wrote might not be perfect!

Ruby Sparks is one of the most original ideas of the year and through Zoe Kazan’s superb script it simply lights up the screen. We have all dream of our perfect person and wondered how we could mould them into the ultimate partner. Dayton & Faris put all our desires into focus and show us to be careful what you wish for because it could potentially backfire! The real feel to this movie captures the same kind of indie glitter that Little Miss Sunshine was able to give audiences.

The central story of Calvin and Ruby is one that is very sweet and incredibly genuine, Calvin is a borderline control freak in life and his quirks have pushed away many people including his ex Lila (Deborah Ann Woll). He is continually met with praise for his previous novel- but he hates it because he believes people only like ‘a part of him’. When he meets Ruby, at first he cannot believe his luck at having written his ideal love.

At first he has trouble convincing people this is actually real – this is demonstrated in a brilliantly captured scene where he shows his brother (Chris Messina) that Ruby exists by constantly writing new things for her to do on his type writer such as her speaking fluent French. The second his brother clicks on, is priceless! As he knows Calvin has created what most men dream of.

But soon the very distinctive personality he fell in love with begins to annoy him and the scenes where he tries to literally re-write Ruby are a mixture of heart break and sheer hilarity. Calvin is his own worst enemy in this situation and it goes to show that some people are not meant to be changed because their colours shine brightest when they are themselves!

Although film does sag more into traditional rom- com territory in the middle part, where Calvin and Ruby pay a visit to his hippie mother (Annette Bening) and step-father (Antonio Bandaras)  it has an ending that delivers a worth conclusion to its brilliant premise. Although some heart may sink at its outcome, but I won’t give too much away here!

Paul Dano seems like an odd choice to star in a sweet film like Ruby Sparks, given his previous dark turn as preacher Eli in There Will Be Blood. But nevertheless he is a magnificent choice and her perfect embodies Calvin’s difficult persona on screen and through his performance he gives him a sweeter side.

But the film belongs to Zoe Kazan as Ruby- a new star is truly born here as Kazan gives firstly one of the most creative scripts of recent times that from start to finish makes great use of its ideas. And also she illuminates on screen at all times, Ruby is one of the sweetest and most caring people you could ever wish to meet and through Kazan we would all happily be with her and not change a thing! The fact that Dano and Kazan are real life partners adds to the reality on screen.

Dayton and Faris have made us wait sometime but Ruby Sparks has been worth the six years in between and I think we will struggle to find a more unique concept this year in cinema. If anyone out there has every thought about changing the people they love, then head down and watch this film because it will teach you not only to love people for what they are- but will make you wish you could write something as well as Calvin!

Friendly Fire: This Means War Review

This Means War

Director: MCG

By Alex Watson

Romantic comedies are a film type that keeps rolling off the Hollywood conveyor belt. Every year there is a least one a month on our screens. Some of us delight in the reliable, albeit similar story lines and the warm glow it brings to our hearts, others however, simply roll their eyes with contempt as they are yet again dragged to the movies. The main argument is that are these films really worth sitting through again and again? But more importantly, how does a film-maker keep on top of the laughs to ensure the critics and audiences rave? This week we look at director MCG’s new comedy, This Means War.

The main story focuses on two top CIA agents and best friends, FDR (Chris Pine) and Tuck (Tom Hardy) who have both been demoted after a mission to capture terrorist Heinrich (Til Schweiger) went drastically wrong. Very soon the two men both meet and fall in love with un-happy singleton Lauren (Reese Witherspoon). Gradually their once solid brotherhood turns into all out rivalry as both men strive to win the ladies heart.

This Mean War covers all the basic features of a typical romantic comedy, but refreshingly, it goes above them and delivers a very slick and assured film which gives plenty of laughs. The centre story has been covered in many films, where two hot guys go for the same girl. But in This Means War we have best friends who are senior government agents, and they are willing to abuse resources and manpower to get the girl they love! The moments when they spy on Lauren talking to her best friend about their best and worse features, is truly hilarious! This feature gives the movie its greatest strength as we have not one but two male protagonists we are cheering for and like Lauren; we simply cannot choose who she should go for?

The competition between the two men is another excellent feature of this film. Tuck and FDR are men of extreme resources and it seems in this there is no level they won’t sink to. All through the film we are continually guessing what each man will do to ruin the other’s date. We have Hardy tranquilising Pine right before he is about to literally score big time with Lauren!  And Pine responds by turning on the sprinklers in Hardy’s flat when he going for the kiss. These moments, break the mould of a typical romantic film and the laughs come thick and fast.

Director MCG has been the subject of numerous slating campaigns in Hollywood over the years. His version of Charlie’s Angels was mauled by critics, but since directing Terminator Salvation, his star has steadily been increasing. This Means War is another big step in the right direction. Although the story line is light in places, his handling of the action and romance is well timed and precisely executed. Because of this picture gleams and gives the story a suave edge to it. He may have made mistakes in the past, but there is proof that this man can redeem himself.

The real charm of the film comes down to the success of its lead trio. For Tom Hardy, this is a departure for his usual roles. In films such as Bronson, we saw an engaging (though slightly frightening) presence. But in This Means War, we see that his soft side is just as effective and as Tuck, he is a revelation. Chris Pine showed us his leading man credentials as Kirk in Star Trek once again he gives another solid showing. Pine gives us a care-free playboy who is yearning for more in life and has finally found it. Reese Witherspoon is on familiar ground with this role; after all her name was made on films such as Sweet Home Alabama and Legally Blonde. But her performance doesn’t lapse as a result. As Lauren she is sweet and very believable, but more crucially she appeals to the audience and doesn’t become an enemy in the midst of dating two good looking guys.

This Means War so far is a leading candidate for one of the years more original comedy films, the chemistry between the three leads make the picture seem so effortless and will have you leaving the cinema with a wide grin on your face. Though it will pose question about how Tuck and FDR’s CIA careers didn’t suffer in the face of the events portrayed! MCG please give us more pictures like this, maybe then we will forget Charlie’s Angels ever existed.