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Plot |
Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix) is a writer who works for a company that produces professional written letters for the public. He is going through a rough patch with his marriage breaking up and he is feeling out of sorts when he buys a new operating system that is designed to cover all his possible problems. It does this and more. This operating system is incredibly intelligent from the beginning. After Theodore sets up the system with a female voice the system names itself Samantha (Scarlett Johansson). Samantha and Theodore form a long lasting relationship which not everyone is understanding about, but soon there are developments that not even Theodore can overlook. He turns to his human friend Amy (Amy Adams) for some help and guidance. |
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Character Development |
This has been a film of development from the start with Samantha and Theodore. During the course of the film there are glimpses into the past with Theodore’s soon to be ex-wife and how that relationship fell apart. It was almost like a documentary in its telling, building upon event after event. The path forward and back is clearly marked. |
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Acting |
There were a lot of rich details in the acting and it was done in complete seriousness. This was not a script that played for laughs. |
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Overview |
The writing was really well done. I could tell that there was plenty of planning in the sequences. One effective touch was the playing of Theodore’s relationship in flashbacks with his soon to be ex-wife bit by bit while telling the current events of Theodore with Samantha and the rest of the world. Another good effort was with the added drama with Samantha developing feelings and Theodore finding fault with her and Samantha becoming emotional because of that. One nice moment was when Theodore noticed that Samantha was inhaling before she spoke. He rationalized with Samantha that machines do not need to breath. Both characters would push each other and both characters developed beyond the point at which they started. Just like a real relationship. |
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